The Jo Show

What happens when you’ve done everything “right”—and your business, career, or life still falls apart?

In this powerful episode of The Jo Show, host Jo McKee, founder of McKee Creative, sits down with Erika Coleman to discuss resilience, rebuilding after burnout, overcoming adversity, and creating a business that supports both your income and your life.

Whether you’re a founder, entrepreneur, freelancer, or small business owner juggling every role in your company, this conversation delivers practical insights into leadership, business systems, mindset, and sustainable growth.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

🚀 How to rebuild your business after setbacks and unexpected challenges
🧠 Why burnout isn’t a badge of honor—and how to avoid it
⚙️ The importance of business systems that create freedom and efficiency
💼 How entrepreneurs can increase revenue without constantly working more hours
📈 Why clarity and strategic thinking outperform hustle alone
🤖 How AI marketing systems can streamline operations and save valuable time
💪 Mindset shifts that help founders navigate uncertainty with confidence
🌱 Practical lessons on resilience, leadership, and long-term business success
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🔗 Connect with Jo McKee

🤖 Book a free live AI marketing strategy session to discover how automation and business systems can help you save time, reduce costs, and grow your revenue.
→ https://calendar.app.google/AU8bEHoSB...

Website → https://mckeecreative.store
LinkedIn →   / mckeecreative  

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🔗 Connect with Erika Coleman

Learn more about Erika’s work through her website and LinkedIn.
Website → https://www.erikacolemanspeaks.com/
Linkedin →   / erika-coleman-1591b435  

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⚙️ Tools Jo Loves

Discover Postiz: the best social media scheduling platform, that welcomes your AI agent team member! We appreciate you using our referral link:
🗓️ https://postiz.pro/thejoshow

It’s the Operator Trap. We think we’re so special, our team can’t do without us. But that path is the sure way to being Very Stuck Indeed.

Mike DeJong started flying in 1987, and the cockpit taught him the lessons he now teaches from the stage: the pilots who actually go places aren’t the ones who are gripping the controls the tightest.

A Tony Robbins Platinum Partner, Mike has helped hundreds of business leaders answer the only question that really matters: how can my business serve my life, not consume it?

You’ll enjoy Mike’s easy, genuine method as he shows you how to make success inevitable.

The Jo Show is for small business owners — people doing the work, wearing every hat, and trying to figure out what’s actually working in marketing right now.

Hosted by Jo McKee, founder of McKee Creative.

Subscribe to The Jo Show for more conversations with builders, inventors and operators → https://www.youtube.com/@the_jo_show

Apply to be a guest on The Jo Show → https://mckeecreative.store/the-jo-show-guest-application/

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CONTACT JO:

Get a free, live analysis on how AI will help you get your time back and reduce running costs. Book it in here: https://calendar.app.google/AU8bEHoSBkD8Ewa76

Hire Jo → https://mckeecreative.store

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeecreative/

CONTACT MIKE DEJONG

Website →  https://mikedejong.com/

LinkedIn →  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikedejongspeaker/

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TOOLS JO LOVES

Discover Postiz: the best social media scheduling platform, that welcomes your AI agent team member! We appreciate you using our referral link:

🗓️ https://postiz.pro/thejoshow 

#businesssystems #systemsarchitect #clarity #smallbusinesssystems #businessefficiency #mindset #smallbusinessmarketing #revenuegrowth

Andrew Underhill used to have a big team working under him in the world of big tech. With the pace of change, he knew he needed to "AI-proof" his income (at least for as long as anyone can do that).

Through Emery Custom Builds, Andrew's building a business to suit who he is, that supports his family and that produces beautiful environments to be in.

Andrew shares how he's using Claude to figure out the SEO for his site so that people know his business exists, to learn his business operations, what it took for his family to get the business established, and what he dreams of for the future.

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CONTACT JO:

The Jo Show is for small business owners in their first one to five years — people doing the work, wearing every hat, and trying to figure out what’s actually working in marketing right now.

Hosted by Jo McKee, founder of McKee Creative.

Subscribe to The Jo Show for more conversations with builders, inventors and operators → https://www.youtube.com/@the_jo_show

Apply to be a guest on The Jo Show → https://mckeecreative.store/the-jo-show-guest-application/

Hire McKee Creative for your marketing or AI systems → https://mckeecreative.store

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeecreative/

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CONTACT ANDREW:

Website  →  https://emerycustombuilds.com/

#smallbusinessmarketing #entrepreneurship #aiforseo

In this episode of The Jo Show, entrepreneur and podcast host Aubrey Felderhoff reveals the three organic marketing channels that helped her build a thriving coaching business and a globally ranked podcast—without spending a dollar on advertising.

If you’re a small business owner, coach, consultant, or service provider who hates posting on social media, this conversation breaks down practical client acquisition strategies that work even when you’re working solo with limited time and resources.

Aubrey built a podcast ranked in the top 1.5% globally and grew her business with no ad budget, no large team, and no complicated roadmap. In this interview, she shares the audience-building, networking, and content strategies that generated consistent leads and long-term business growth.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
• The 3 organic marketing channels that attract clients without paid ads
• How to grow a podcast and build authority in your niche
• Client acquisition strategies for coaches, consultants, and small business owners
• How to market your business when you dislike social media
• The relationship-building tactics that create long-term referrals and opportunities
• How to grow an audience and generate leads with limited resources

Whether you’re in your first few years of business or looking for more sustainable marketing strategies, this episode offers actionable insights you can implement immediately.

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CONNECT WITH JO:

The Jo Show is for small business owners in their first one to five years of business—people wearing every hat, building from the ground up, and looking for marketing strategies that actually work today.

Hosted by Jo McKee, Founder of McKee Creative.

Subscribe to The Jo Show for more conversations with entrepreneurs, business owners, innovators, and operators:
https://www.youtube.com/@the_jo_show

Apply to be a guest on The Jo Show:
https://mckeecreative.store/the-jo-show-guest-application/

Work with McKee Creative for marketing strategy, content creation, and AI systems:
https://mckeecreative.store

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeecreative/

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CONNECT WITH AUBREY:

Website:
https://moldfreemom.com

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#SmallBusinessMarketing #OrganicMarketing #ClientAcquisition #BusinessGrowth #PodcastMarketing #Entrepreneurship

Most women with ADHD are diagnosed late after years of being called lazy, difficult or disorganised. Dr Jennifer Dall was told in her fifties she couldn’t possibly have ADHD. She’d had it her whole life.

A former educator of 25 years, she is now a grief-informed neurodivergence specialist, founder of ADHD Holistically, and an independent author releasing four books in a single year through her own press, Curveball Press.

In this episode she explains why ADHD in women is missed for so long, the three-day system she uses to get real work done when long focus isn’t an option, and why she built a four-book product line instead of chasing a publishing deal.

You’ll learn:

• Why ADHD in women goes unrecognised for 30, 40, even 50 years
• The “ADHD tax” — what it quietly costs you in work, money and relationships
• The Three-Day Sprint: a way to finish things when you can’t grind for weeks
• How she runs a business and a publishing imprint around how her brain works
• The one small shift to try first if you’re starting to suspect you have ADHD

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CONTACT JO:

Subscribe to The Jo Show → https://www.youtube.com/@the_jo_show

Apply to be a guest on The Jo Show → https://mckeecreative.store/the-jo-show-guest-application/

Hire McKee Creative for your marketing or AI systems → https://mckeecreative.store

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeecreative/

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CONTACT DR JENNIFER DALL:

Website → https://adhdholistically.com

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/adhd.holistically/

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CHAPTERS:

0:00  “You can’t have ADHD.” She’d had it her whole life

0:30  The life that looked fine and wasn’t

1:30  Diagnosed late: the relief and the grief

2:30  What you’ve been blaming yourself for (that isn’t your fault)

4:03  Why ADHD in women gets missed for decades

6:04  Does a diagnosis even matter? And the “ADHD tax”

8:17  When the wrong job quietly costs you everything

9:29  Grief-informed ADHD: the “plus one” nobody talks about

10:51  When the to-do list is three pages long

12:59  The Three-Day Sprint: how ADHD brains actually finish things

16:19  What to do on day four (hint: nothing)

17:03  Four books, one year, her own press: why she went solo

18:45  Building a product line, not a brain dump

19:50  What HR and therapists still get wrong about ADHD

21:17  Giving your team — and yourself — some grace

22:13  If you’re 50 and just starting to suspect: start here

23:34  Rapid fire: five questions, no overthinking

25:03  Where to find Dr Jennifer Dall

Most small business owners spend everything getting new customers through the door, then forget about them the moment they buy. Ty Givens — founder of CX Collective, who has spent 25 years building customer support for fast-growing brands — explains why that is backwards, and why customer experience is the cheapest, most effective marketing a small budget has.

She also breaks down the question everyone is asking right now: where AI actually fits in your business, and where it quietly makes things worse. Her line: add AI to a broken process and you don't fix the mess, you scale it.

You'll learn:

- Why customer experience is the cheapest marketing a small business has

- The corporate jargon mistake that sank her first launch, and the fix

- What to automate with AI and what to keep human

- Why bolting AI onto a broken process makes things worse, not better

- The website detail that quietly breaks your AI before it starts

- The customer service error that costs you repeat buyers

- Why she turns down money that doesn't sit right

- The burnout warning sign she ignored until an employee called it out

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CONTACT JO:

The Jo Show is for small business owners in their first one to five years — people doing the work, wearing every hat, and trying to figure out what's actually working in marketing right now.

Hosted by Jo McKee, founder of McKee Creative.

Subscribe to The Jo Show for more conversations with builders, inventors and operators → https://www.youtube.com/@the_jo_show

Apply to be a guest on The Jo Show → https://mckeecreative.store/the-jo-show-guest-application/

Hire McKee Creative for your marketing or AI systems → https://mckeecreative.store

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeecreative/

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CONTACT TY GIVENS:

Website → https://www.cxcollective.com

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/tybryantgivens/

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CHAPTERS:

0:00 If you make yourself sick, they'll just replace you

0:49 The corporate jargon that sank her first launch

1:46 Why she turns down clients who'd happily pay

3:46 Leaving money on the table on purpose

4:55 Customer experience is your cheapest marketing

8:27 The 45-minute chat that cost them customers

11:13 Why bolting AI onto a broken process backfires

13:33 The website detail that quietly breaks your AI

14:11 The client she walked away from

16:36 What to automate, what to keep human

18:50 The hamster wheel that nearly broke her

21:46 Walking away with no plan B

23:14 What she'd tell a founder who's burning out

25:11 Where to find Ty

#SmallBusinessMarketing #CustomerExperience #AICustomerService

Most small business owners think you have to chase. Cold calls, paid funnels, networking events you don't want to be at. Graphic designer Amy Weiher has run her Seattle studio for 20+ years entirely on referrals and repeat clients — no cold outreach, no funnel, still booked.

In this episode, Amy walks Jo through what she's actually done. The 4-week warm email system she uses to bring new nonprofit clients on board. The networking decision that filled her client roster. And the cortisone shot 15 years in that forced her to stop saying yes to everything.

You'll learn:

- Why hoping for referrals doesn't work — and what cultivating them actually looks like

- Which networking groups are worth your time and which are a waste

- Amy's 4-week warm email system for landing nonprofit clients

- Why AI-written outreach emails go straight to the bin

- The first thing to change if you're burnt out, undercharging and saying yes to everyone

- How putting your prices on your website filters out the wrong clients

- The conference conversation that turned into a client two years later

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CONTACT JO:

The Jo Show is for small business owners in their first one to five years — people doing the work, wearing every hat, and trying to figure out what's actually working in marketing right now.

Hosted by Jo McKee, founder of McKee Creative.

Subscribe to The Jo Show for more conversations with builders, inventors and operators → https://www.youtube.com/@the_jo_show

Apply to be a guest on The Jo Show → https://mckeecreative.store/the-jo-show-guest-application/

Hire McKee Creative for your marketing or AI systems → https://mckeecreative.store

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeecreative/

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CONTACT AMY WEIHER:

Website → https://weihercreative.com/

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyweiher/

Book → Good Work — Practical Advice for Starting and Scaling Your Creative Freelance Business: https://goodworkbook.com/

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CHAPTERS:

0:00 Twenty years booked on referrals

0:59 The yes that ended in a cortisone shot

2:30 Hoping for referrals doesn't work. This does.

4:30 The networking group that filled her client roster

5:46 Stop joining every networking event you find

7:44 What worked in your 30s won't work in your 40s

11:05 How to push back on rushed deadlines

12:04 The clients I refuse to work with

14:49 Every yes is a no to something else

17:33 The 4-week warm email system that wins nonprofit clients

19:28 The course I bought after nine years of watching

20:46 Why AI-written emails don't land

21:15 Burnt out? Raise your rates first

22:30 Why my prices live on my website

23:37 A conference chat that became a client two years later

24:47 Start with how you want your day to feel

#SmallBusinessMarketing #MarketingPodcast

Most solo operators don't last five years. Jim DeLorenzo has run his PR practice for 27 years — solo. He started in July 1999. A year later, the dot-com bubble burst. Two years after that, 9/11 wiped out his two biggest clients in a month. Then the GFC. Then COVID. Then AI. He's still doing his own work, one client at a time.

In this episode, Jim shares what's actually worked across four industry collapses, why he still hires himself for every job, and how he uses ChatGPT without sounding like ChatGPT.

You'll learn:

• How to rebuild your reputation (not yourself) when an industry collapses
• The reorient-don't-restart playbook for handling a crisis
• Why the story you think no one cares about is usually the one that lands
• How to land earned media with no budget and no PR team
• A solo operator's actual ChatGPT workflow (and why he prints everything out)
• What 27 years of disruption taught him about staying in the game
• The line he uses every time something falls apart

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CONTACT JO:

The Jo Show is for small business owners in their first one to five years — people doing the work, wearing every hat, and trying to figure out what's actually working in marketing right now.

Hosted by Jo McKee, founder of McKee Creative.

Subscribe to The Jo Show for more conversations with builders, operators and storytellers → https://www.youtube.com/@the_jo_show

Apply to be a guest on The Jo Show → https://mckeecreative.store/the-jo-show-guest-application/

Hire McKee Creative for your marketing or AI systems → https://mckeecreative.store

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeecreative/

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CONTACT JIM DELORENZO:

Website → https://www.jhdenterprises.com/

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimdelorenzo/

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CHAPTERS:

0:00 Whatever doesn't kill me will make me funnier

0:13 27 years through every crash since 1999

0:50 Starting a PR business when everyone said it would fail

1:56 A year later the dot-com bubble burst (and they came asking for work)

2:34 Then 9/11 hit. Two biggest clients gone in a month.

5:01 Taking the hit without taking it personally

6:58 The reorient-don't-restart playbook for crisis

9:30 The coach who helped him rebuild after grief

10:02 Manual typewriters to AI — don't be afraid of the next thing

13:11 How he actually uses ChatGPT (and why he prints everything out)

16:07 Why he still corrals rowers on a riverbank in his 60s

22:18 The accountant, the brain surgery and the bass guitar

25:26 The single mother who built a 700-person cleaning business

30:26 The story you think no one cares about is usually the one

31:01 $150,000 in stock options, gone overnight

#PublicRelations #SmallBusinessMarketing #SoloEntrepreneur

Ashley Woods is a marketing strategist at Google and YouTube who built her own business — Primer Libro, a Spanish-language children's book company — on the side. In this episode, she breaks down what works at Google scale that's a complete waste of time for a small business, and what small businesses can do that Google can't.

You'll hear how she had a wake-up call running Amazon ads, why mom-and-pop events outperformed every paid channel she tried, and the one marketing principle that holds true at every scale. Plus: how Jo cancelled $850 a month of marketing software and rebuilt it with AI agents.

You'll learn:

- Why most small business advertising spend is unprofitable, and the wake-up call that proved it

- What a marketer at Google does when she's spending her own money

- The data advantage small businesses have over billion-dollar companies

- Incrementality vs attribution, plainly explained

- Why a Google strategist is spending zero on advertising for two months

- The one thing to do if you're sitting on an idea and afraid to start

- How to use AI for more than just "give me ideas" and "write this email"

- The $850 a month marketing software Jo cancelled (and what she runs instead)

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CONTACT JO:

The Jo Show is for small business owners in their first one to five years — people doing the work, wearing every hat, and trying to figure out what's actually working in marketing right now.

Hosted by Jo McKee, founder of McKee Creative.

Subscribe to The Jo Show for more conversations with builders, inventors and operators → https://www.youtube.com/@the_jo_show

Apply to be a guest on The Jo Show → https://mckeecreative.store/the-jo-show-guest-application/

Hire McKee Creative for your marketing or AI systems → https://mckeecreative.store

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckeecreative/

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CONTACT ASHLEY WOODS:

Website → https://www.primerlibro.com/

Email → [email protected]

LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleywoodsmarketing/

#SmallBusiness #AIForSmallBusiness