The Hot Mic @ Arch DevOps

Jas Rawlinson and I got introduced by a mutual friend recently, and after hearing a bit of her story I was like, 'hey you gotta get on this podcast please'. One of the most frustrating things as an entrepreneur is seeing everybody on social media seemingly having it together. Making six figures, posing next to a lambo and living the life--and yet we don't know about the blood, sweat and tears that went into what looks like an overnight success. Spoiler alert: it wasn't. There's almost a fake kind of impostor syndrome that happens when we're exposed to too much of this manufactured success, which we dig into in this episode. Jas' mission in life is to help people share their own story and use it as a way to build their own business. Leveraging the idea of the 'know, like and trust' factor, sharing your own story is a sure way to get the kind of business that will last you for your entrepreneur journey. Listen in to hear her story about her original plan, how the pandemic made it go bonk, and how she recovered. She's doing some cool stuff these days. If you need help sharing your story, writing a book, getting a handle on public speaking or getting yourself out there, find her at jasrawlinson.com. Let's get going. 

Today's guest is Jane Tabachnick, Founder of Simply Good Press. She shares with me how she describes herself as a 'recovering fashion designer' who realized the power that public relations had on her career. With strategy and a little bit of elbow grease, she found herself getting opportunities to talk with big people in the fashion space, who by then had already heard of her. She loved that aspect of the work so much that she pivoted to do that full time. Now she's helping her clients get a lot more visibility. In her career she struggled with figuring out a business model and how to get recurring revenue--which is a challenge for a lot of us too--but she's figuring it out. Constantly surrounding herself with people who have been further down the path of entrepreneurship has helped her tremendously, and it goes right in line with her advice at the end of the episode. Find Jane at simplygoodpress.com, and while you're there take her fun and free assessment to see how visible YOU are. Episode's already going, let's jump in now. 

Turns out today's guest and I have a ton in common! We met on Matchmaker and after reading her bio and getting to know her a little bit I said: girl, you're in. Nelly Yusupova is a Startup Tech Advisor, helping leaders understand how to manage their technical teams, without going Full Nerd. She helps companies build out their apps and get their products to market quickly, but she flips the script on how to go about that. Rather than let companies sling their idea out and then try to find customers, she helps them do the market research first and determine if the idea is even viable. And you can believe it, an idea that's shot down is much better than spending thousands or millions of investor funds on something that just wouldn't work. Nelly's poised to help lots of companies figure out how to pull off their dreams on time and under budget. Find more about her at techspeakforentrepreneurs.com, where she hosts free classes every Wednesday, and you can learn the Lean way to build products. Or find her under the handle @digitalwoman all over social media. Let's jump in. 

It's not often that we look back on our entrepreneurial heritage and know why it is we have the spark to start a business. But today's guest knows exactly what, and who, put that spark in her. Hanieh Sigari shared an amazing story about how growing up in Iran, her mother was incredibly influential. After nearly being executed, her mother was presented with an opportunity to help girls get back on their feet, and make a living after being taught a skill. The Iran-Iraq war happening soon after gave them plenty to work on, and each girl was paid for their work. Hanieh's mother was able to influence the lives of hundreds of girls and help them live by the work of their own hands. And that's what clinched it. Today, Hanieh is a serial entrepreneur, having started multiple ventures and taking what she's learned from each, to create a sizable enterprise focused on high grade and customized skin care. Qyral is the culmination of all the influence she's had from as far back as a young girl in Iran. What a cool mom, and what a cool story! Find more about Hanieh and Qyral by visiting qyral.com, qyralskincare on Instagram, or emailing her directly at [email protected]. You're gonna love this story happening right now. 

'Yo dog, I heard you like startups, so I made you a startup that helps startups startup' Reuse of an old meme here, and I'm pretty sure that's the idea that today's guest John Bunting had when founding Beeso Studios. It's a startup studio, and they partner with up and coming companies who want to scale and need guidance and many hands to help make light work. John's a pretty laid back guy but has really seen some stuff as he continues on his entrepreneurial path. He absolutely loves what he's doing and is eager to help as many viable companies as possible make it in this chaotic world we live in. If you're a startup wondering if you have what it takes, John and his team of experts will tell you. And they'll help you every step of the way. Get in contact with him by going to beeso.io, and he'll take it from there. Let's jump into the show now. 

You know, one of the most stressful parts of business for a lot of entrepreneurs is looking at the books. Ugh. I mean shoot even sometimes I don't like to look at where money's going, but if you plan to have a profitable business, you probably should be at least taking a peek at it once in awhile. Ean Price Murphy is a Mastery Level practitioner of Profit First Bookkeeping, a program designed to give you full transparency and insights on where your money is going, and how to think in terms of driving more profit for your company. On today's episode we talk about the mindset that goes into creating such a business, and the effects of engineering your environment to force yourself into being more successful. It's a relaxing yet energetic mix of mindfulness, brain hacking, financing and spreadsheet, but most of all: moxie. Which is great, because that's the name of her business. If you hate numbers but know you need awesome bookkeeping, reach out to Ean by googling Moxie Bookkeeping, and find her on LinkedIn and Facebook. Let's 'pivot' into the episode now. That's a spreadsheet joke. Sounded better in my head. Anyway, here we go! 

Jumping into the conversation, we right away started talking about cryptocurrency, precious metals, psychology and all kinds of other topics, all before I learned how to pronounce this guest's name! Nicholas Prouten and I talked about the project he's creating called Lode, and modernizing precious metals for the modern world. There's a huge movement to return to that standard because of the inherent allure of the metals, but how we buy, sell and trade has gotten a bit ancient. It's time for a facelift. We're talking about the value of money, investing in assets, and what it takes to get people on board with high tech currency that you find in cryptocurrency. Find out more about his mission to make crypto and precious metals investments mainstream at lodepay.com or lode.one. Get ready to learn some cool stuff. 

He's a civil engineer by day, and a Youtube video producer by night. Sidd Masand is the brains behind the Rock and Roll True Stories channel on Youtube, and hearing his story is a great example of human spirit in action. The financial crash in 2008 and 2009 and a lot of extra work stress made him realize he really wanted to reclaim his freedom and passion for work. So he started up a Youtube channel. And it's ended up being a pretty good revenue stream. The biggest piece of advice he has is, find a niche and go all in. It takes a lot of bravery to do that, but if you go that direction it'll pay off huge. And you won't wear yourself out trying to be all things to all people. If you want to hear more about the stories this chill Canadian is putting together, search for Rock and Roll True Stories to track down his channel. Let's jump into the conversation now. 

Lee Chambers is the founder of Essentialise, where he provides top notch service for fellow entrepreneurs who are trying to figure out what's holding them back in business. But before that? He ran a video game company. There were some big things that happened in his life that gave him the fuel to start Essentialise, and helped him realize he had a lot to give to the world. Entrepreneurs all over struggle with the idea of keeping their identity free from the business, while still delegating and creating something self-sustaining. But it is NOT easy, and having someone like Lee on your side is a wise move. We're unpacking a lot of cool stuff here, and if you're an owner listening in, there are some things that will resonate. After the show, if you'd like to chat with Lee and see how he can help, head over to essentialise.co.uk, or to his personal page at leechambers.org. Let's listen in now. 

Talking with Matt Rosenthal today about his journey, and how he got started in entrepreneurship was a treat, because he's a huge nerd just like me! He shared how originally he was going to start in the criminal justice space, but had some events happen in life that got him in the path of some key people, and he ended up falling into IT. Happens more that you might think. Later he started up a side gig that his employer found out about, and decided to 'fire himself' and go full bore into the side business. Fast forward a few years, and he's built it into a multimillion dollar enterprise. He's figured out the key to balancing life, and really making yourself and information redundant--two things that seem counterintuitive but really go a long way toward building a scalable business. There's a lot that fellow entrepreneurs can learn from this conversation. Find Matt online on LinkedIn, their website at mind-core.com and on Youtube as well. Also be watching for a new podcast starting up called 'Digging In' hosted by his company. Let's jump into the conversation now.