Professor, author, trend forecastor, and co-founder of The Creative Roundtable Jena Nesbitt is Reina and Christina’s guest on The Creative Empire podcast this episode. First the trio talk about Jena’s winding path to entrepreneurship and how the skills she learned along the way were valuable. Then they dive right into talking about pricing and the Unique Value Proposition. Jena’s unique journey + perspective really lend themselves to these topics. Lastly, they talk about disruptors and how to be one.

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Show Highlights:

* How entrepreneurship isn’t a straight line

* How to strategically price your goods or services

* Why it’s necessary to track your numbers

* What the Unique Value Proposition is and how to figure out your own

* How to be a disruptor

Show Notes:

* Pioneer Nation

* Startup Weekend

* Ned Space

* Chris Guillebeau

* Sally Hogshead’s Personality Test

Jena’s Bio:

Jena Nesbitt is an avid learner & teacher, constantly striving to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit of other creatives. In 2016 she accepted an adjunct professor position with the Art Institute of Portland, teaching courses in Creative Entrepreneurship and Fashion Forecasting. She is the author of the Creative Business Canvas, a visual business model tool built specifically for artists, designers, and creative businesses. Jena works as a trend forecasting consultant with national companies, utilizing her background in visual merchandising, textile design, and product development to inspire future apparel & lifestyle products. In late 2014 Jena co-founded The Creative Roundtable, offering support & guidance to creative entrepreneurs through facilitated weekly discussions and monthly meet-ups. Jena is an active member of the Portland design, tech, and startup communities; you’ll often find her at networking at local events, hosting meet-ups, or teaching & mentoring at conferences.

Jena’s Social Handles:

* Website

* Twitter

* Instagram

* The Creative Roundtable’s Website

* The Creative Roundtable’s Facebook

* The Creative Roundtable’s Instagram

Click for Full Transcript

This episode features Reina and Christina chatting about how to start a business. They see people over-complicating it and would like to discuss how to go through the process in simpler terms. First Christina tells how to legally set up a business. Then they talk about the other things that go into building a business, like visibility, gaining clients, and mindset.

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Show Highlights:

* How to legally setup a business from scratch

* What the difference between an LLC and a trademark

* What to do before you start a company

* What belongs in a business plan

* How to gain visibility quickly

* How to test your business idea before you even have an LLC + why it’s important

* Why you should pick one thing first to become an expert in

* Why confidence is an important part of owning a business

Show Notes:

* Stephanie Thacker/Steadfast Bookkeeping Co

* Reina’s Pay Yourself series

* Nevica’s Pay Yourself series

* Courage + Clarity Episode 3

* Creative Empire Podcast’s free guide to starting your business

* Rising Tide Society

* Lean Six Sigma

* Creative Empire Podcast Facebook group

* Essentialism by Greg McKeown

* Tara Gentile’s episode

* Ashley Lurcott’s episode

* Jam Session on Pricing

Click for Full Transcript

Reina and Christina’s guest this episode is Nikki Elledge Brown, The Communication Stylist, creator of  A Course About Copy, and host of Naptime Empires. Nikki is here to chat about learning how to share your story authentically. She shares where to start if you haven’t shared much online yet, how to strut your stuff without feeling self-centered, how to let your personality shine through in everything you do, and much much more.

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Show Highlights:

* How to strut your stuff without feeling self-centered

* What 2 things to consider before you share something that has TMI potential

* Where to start if you haven’t shared much online yet

* What the difference is between sharing authentically + sharing as a marketing ploy

* Why Nikki considers being triggered by others’ success a potentially good thing

* How we can make our personalities shine through in our copy across all platforms

* What Nikki needs to remind herself of who she really is + pull herself out of dark spots

* How using templates to write from are great starting places

* How there’s no one right way to write copy + her number one advice for sales copy

Show Notes:

* A Course About Copy

* Naptime Empires Podcast

* Marianne Williamson quote about letting your light shine

* Glennon Doyle Melton’s interview with Marie Forleo

* Nikki’s blog post about having no site, but still getting tons of opt-ins

* Ira Glass quotes about beginners

* Creative Empire’s free workbook

* Vanessa Van Edwards

* Susan Ferraro

Nikki’s Bio:

Nikki’s known online as The Communication Stylist®, helping entrepreneurs communicate with clarity and confidence through her flagship program, A Course About Copy®. She’s a proud military spouse, mom, former park ranger and college professor sharing stories, tips, and inspiration on life, business, and all things communication over at nikkielledgebrown.com.

#also: If you’re looking for refreshingly honest conversations on the realities of parenthood + entrepreneurship, you will LOVE Nikki’s new podcast, Naptime Empires™. Check it out on iTunes and join the conversation at naptimeempires.com!

Nikki’s Social Handles:

* Website

* Facebook

* Twitter

* Instagram

* Pinterest

Click for Full Transcript

Joining Reina and Christina for this Empire Mentoring session is Maura Chamness, product stylist and brand photographer. Maura’s biggest struggle right now is how to convert inquiries into clients. Reina + Christina talk about her website + process of booking a client before giving her several key pieces of advice.

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Show Highlights:

* How your service needs to match your ideal client’s needs

* How you can go to people who need your service instead of waiting for them to come to you

* How to pitch your services in a way that makes your potential clients receptive to them

* How to sell value not cost

* How to figure out what to focus on and why it’s important to focus for a length of time

* How to use your personality in business

* How to use the Social Glue Method of marketing

* How to find value in masterminds

Show Notes:

* Creative Empire Podcast Focus Group

* Reina’s Social Glue Method

* Lauren Carnes

Maura’s Bio:

Maura is a product stylist and brand photographer who helps inspired and creative entrepreneurs enhance their online presence with photos that complement the brand they’ve worked hard to build. Through her unique process, she guides them in honing their style to create custom stock and product photography that brings their work to life online. Maura currently lives in Houston, TX with her sassy Schnauzer, Gracie. When she’s not in the studio or trying to tame the prop closet, you can usually find her working on a house project, going to yoga, or celebrating Taco Tuesdays – usually with extra guac and pun-ny Instagram memes!

Maura’s Social Handles:

* Website

* Instagram

* Pinterest

Click for Full Transcript

Brand/content strategist and photographer Davey Jones joins Reina and Christina to chat about how to survive big changes + evolve your career. Davey has gone through several transitions in his life, from teacher to photographer to co-creating The Rising Tide Society to now being a brand + content strategist. They discuss how to know what to pursue, how to prepare for the big leap, how to build expertise when you’re just starting, and even how no matter where you are in life, you can always be building skills that will help you in your transitions.

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Show Highlights:

* What transitions Davey has gone through in his career

* How entrepreneurs’ backgrounds are usually pretty eclectic

* What people should do before they transition

* How to build expertise in your industry if you’re just getting started

* How to connect with your audience + have your message resonate with them

* What to listen to when you’re surrounded by a lot of noise

* What other things will help you transition

* How you can always be building skills that will help you in your transitions

* How to know whether something is a good idea to pursue

Show Notes:

* Rising Tide Society

* Art of Work by Jeff Goins

* Creative Empire’s free workbook

* Do Over by Jon Acuff

* Creative at Heart

* Chris Guillebeau

Davey’s Bio:

Davey Jones is a brand and content strategist and one half of the Davey & Krista duo. After several years in education and coaching, photographing over 100 weddings, and launching one of the largest communities for creatives in the world, Davey decided to make helping creatives run better businesses his full time gig. Davey and his wife Krista specialize in helping people create purposeful brands and businesses they love through coaching and mentoring, branding and website design, copywriting and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Consulting. Since building their first business they have found purposeful and fulfilling work—and a life that includes palm trees, blue skies, time with our pups, and—of course—wine and pizza.

Davey’s Social Handles:

* Website

* Facebook

* Instagram

Click for Full Transcript

Reina and Christina’s guest this episode is founder + owner of the gift company Marigold & Grey, Jamie Kutchman. Jamie is here to chat about how she transitioned from her corporate job of 11 years to starting her own business. She advises listeners to not transition the way she did. Instead, Jamie gives practical tips + advice on how to do it, such as the importance of pre-validating your idea, finding your ideal client, how to get started even if you don’t have much space or money, and how to differentiate yourself when you’re in a crowded market.

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Show Highlights:

* Why you should start + grow your new business while you’re still at your corporate job

* Why pre-validation is important

* How to differentiate yourself when you’re in a crowded market

* How to figure out what your ideal client’s pain points are + deliver a product they need

* How to get started as a product-based business, even if you don’t have much space or money

* How Jamie scaled her business

* What to say to yourself when you have anxiety about a transition

Show Notes:

* Tuesdays Together

* Adrienne Dorison

* Blue Ocean Strategy

*

The signature restroom amenity basket

Jamie’s Bio:

Jamie Kutchman Wynne is the founder & owner of the artisan gift company called Marigold & Grey. She first recognized the need for boutique gift service while preparing for her own 2012 wedding when welcome gifts because a major source of stress. Not long after, she left behind an 11-year corporate career in medical/surgical sales to start the business, actually quitting spontaneously on a conference call one day. (She admits it’s probably not the best strategy for transitioning into entrepreneurship, but that’s basically how it happened!) Nonetheless, she is ecstatic to have finally found her true calling. For the first time in life, she doesn’t have to be corporate OR creative. She is fully both and exactly where she belongs! She lives in the Washington, DC area with her golf-smitten husband Jeff, three stepkids and two rescue pups, Lewis & Clarkie! While she enjoys DC life, she’s a true Virginia girl at heart. When not designing gifts, mentoring other creative entrepreneurs or prop styling for other small businesses, she enjoys good bourbon and barbecue, football season, entertaining, and has been known to dust off her passport every chance she gets. She’s honored to lead the Bethesda, Maryland Tuesdays Together group, part of the Rising Tide Society.

Jamie’s Social Handles:

* Website

* Instagram

* Facebook

* Twitter

* Pinterest

Click for Full Transcript

This episode of the Creative Empire Podcast, Reina and Christina are joined by stylist and product photographer Shay Cochrane. Shay is well-known in business circles for her product photography and she imparts some of her own wisdom about how to find your unmistakable style. She shares how she first developed her style and how she tunes out all the noise to just create what only she can create. With a refreshing candor, Shay shares her views on copycats and failure and how to know what to try next.

http://creativeempire.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/10-585-post/EP-77-Shay-Cochrane.mp3

Show Highlights:

* How to stand out from others in your field + tune the noise out

* How to boost your creativity

* How to not let copycats get you down

* How to find your breakthrough thing that differentiates you from others

* How to have an easier time bouncing back from failure

* How to know what step to take next

Show Notes:

* Creative at Heart conference

* Shay’s Styled Stock Photography

* Anna Rifle Bond/Rifle Paper Co

* HGTV Design Star

* Creative Worksheet

Shay’s Bio:

After eight years as a wedding and portrait photographer Shay felt her passion and creativity beginning to wane. After a light bulb moment in Homegoods (of all places!) she made the  almost overnight decision to jump head first into the unknown world of styling and product photography. She deleted eight years of wedding photography off of her website, landed her first commercial client and has never looked back. In her own words, “I have finally found that organic, creative, authenticity that always seemed to be missing in those early years as a photographer. I have found the work that my heart truly loves.”  By God’s grace Shay is married to her best friend of 10 years, has two curly haired girls and lives in sunny Tampa, FL.

Shay’s Social Handles:

* Website

* Shay’s Styled Stock Photography Website

* Instagram

* Shay’s Styled Stock Photography Instagram

* Twitter

* Pinterest

Click for Full Transcript

Content creation queen, branding strategist, coach, and speaker Maya Elious joins Reina and Christina to chat about how to create content that not only connects to your audience, but also converts them into customers. Maya believes that you should create content from your heart and that everything you do should have a purpose behind it. The trio talk about everything from how to start creating content and what kind of content you should share to how to find your unique selling proposition and how to onboard clients.

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Show Highlights:

* How to figure out what type of content to share

* Why you need to be clear about what you really want on your website

* How to make it really easy for people to buy things from you + why it’s important to do that

*

What the three things are that are missing in your business to make you feel like you are broke and burned out

*

 How to onboard clients as a service based business

*

Why you need to be really confident when you’re naming your price to a potential client + how to fix your money mindset

* How to find your unique selling proposition

* What to do if you’re struggling with consistently booking clients

* How Maya turned her services into commodities

Show Notes:

* Master Your Market

* YouTube Academy

* Smart Content Toolbox

*

Get Paid Challenge

Maya’s Bio:

Maya Elious is a branding strategist, coach and speaker that teaches creative business owners how to create magnetic content and irresistible products that will get them noticed and paid online. She is the content curator behind MayaElious.com where she shares hundreds of blog posts and resources for solopreneurs looking for clarity and strategy to build a profitable brand. When she’s not helping her clients build a digital empire, she can be found binge watching Homeland on Hulu.

Maya’s Social Handles:

* Website

* Instagram

* Facebook

* Twitter

* Facebook group

Click for Full Transcript

Joining Reina and Christina for this episode of the Creative Empire Podcast is Luisa Hammett. Luisa is a successful blogger and shares a lot of insight on how to turn your blog into a business. The trio cover everything from how to earn money blogging to when to start charging + how to approach brands. If you’ve been thinking of starting a blog or you already have a blog + want to take it to the next level, this episode is for you!

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Show Highlights:

* How to make money blogging

*

What some reasons are that non-bloggers might want to have a blog + how it can help their business

* Why consistency is important + how to be more consistent

* How to come up with time to take pictures

* What life looks like as a really well-known blogger

* How to decide whether or not to collaborate with a brand

* When to start charging + how to approach brands

* How to grow your blog readership + social media following

* How to deal with haters

Show Notes:

* Luisa’s Blogging Workshop

* Reina’s Summer Sprint Mastermind

* Hootsuite

* Shelby Steckbauer’s episode

* Atlanta Bloggers

* Jessica Rasdall’s episode

* Haters Course

* The Big Fake Wedding

* Shelby Rae Photographs

* Luisa’s Blog Consulting

Luisa’s Bio:

Born in Colombia, raised in the South, currently living in the beautiful city of Atlanta. I recently graduated with my Masters in Clinical Nutrition from Georgia State University and completed a dietetic internship at Southern Regional Emory Healthcare. I am currently preparing for the final step, which is taking the registered dietetics licensure exam to become a registered dietitian (RD). Peaches to Pearls has been one of the best experience of my life because it gives me a platform to share my two biggest passions, food and fashion. Whether its a new healthy recipe or an affordable, chic outfit, Peaches to Pearls is for any woman trying to live a prettier life.

Luisa’s Social Handles:

* Website

* Instagram

* Facebook

* Twitter

* Pinterest

Click for Full Transcript

Reina and Christina’s guest this episode is event and wedding planner Eliana Baucicault. There are a lot of great tips and advice for the newer wedding professional in this episode. Eliana shares a lot on finding your ideal client and why it’s important for newbies to do so. She also shares what her entire customer experience is like, to give others an idea of how to treat their ideal client from the time they inquire to the time they book. Eliana even addresses what to do if you’re not getting enough inquiries or if the people inquiring aren’t your ideal client.

http://creativeempire.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/27-557-post/EP-64-Eliana-Baucicault.mp3

Show Highlights:

* What Eliana’s secret is to booking so many weddings all over the country

* How to create a wedding planning empire

* Why figuring out your ideal client is important + how to identify them

* What the process of booking a client is, from start to finish

* What to do when you’re not getting inquiries

* What to do with non-ideal client inquiries

* How professionals new to the wedding industry can get other wedding vendors to notice them

Show Notes:

* Savvy Experience

* The B Loft

* Cassie Cherneski’s episode

* Cultivate Retreat

* Z Gallerie

* Adrienne Dorison

* Tuesdays Together

* Creative Empire’s free workbook

* Tave

* Honeybook

* Basecamp

* Asana

* Mindy Weiss

* Savvy Business Owner’s Facebook group

* The B Academy

Eliana’s Bio:

With 9 years in event production under her belt, Eliana creates unforgettable celebrations while bringing a fresh perspective to the industry. Eliana’s background in project management ensures that events goes seamlessly while her eye for design creates memorable events that guests aren’t soon to forget. Eliana takes the visions of her clients and magnificently amplifies them into extraordinarily unique experiences. She prides herself on connecting with her clients on a personal level and maintaining relationships long after their special event. Eliana’s achievements have been spotted in publications such as The Knot, Munaluchi, Southern Bride, Inside Weddings, Essence Magazine and a host of others. She resides in Atlanta, GA with her husband, her teenage son, and 4 adorable Yorkshire Terriers.

Eliana’s Social Handles:

* EllyB Website

* Instagram

* Facebook

* Twitter

* Pinterest

* The B Academy Website

Click for Full Transcript