The Startup Sessions with Michael Knouse

Most entrepreneurs are programmed to work, work, work, until they either succeed or fail. But what if building your business didn’t have to be so hard? Mary Bicknell shows us how mindset + focused action allowed her to grow her business 450% while taking Friday’s off.

Mary Bicknell is a speaker, mentor and success coach for people who are ready to design a life & build a biz to support it. She combines her years of experience as a psychotherapist with her extensive knowledge of sales and business to support female business owners and entrepreneurs.

Working 3 days a week and enjoying 5-figure months, Mary enjoys hanging out with her two favorite people; River, her 8 year old daughter and her dreamboat hubby, John.

Want it all, all-unapologetically is what Mary believes. She encourages people to stop believing they must sacrifice in order to have all the love, money and time they desire.

Are there truth’s that you’re ignoring? When we ask ourselves the tough questions and truthfully answer them, there is most often a moment of clarity followed by a giant ah ha moment. And the the next step is so important – letting go of what’s no longer working and truthfully stepping into the mindset and actions that you can no longer afford to ignore. Iris Higgins joins me to talk about her intense disconnect with her business last year and how she stepped into truth and moved forward with a fresh start in 2016.

Iris Higgins helps women heal through listening to their bodies and learning to trust + follow their intuition. She’s a certified hypnotherapist, the author of two gluten free baking guides, and a creator of safe spaces.

Iris has been sharing stories from her life since 2009, when she first started her gluten free journey. Since then, she has switched careers, gone back to graduate school (for the second time), ended a relationship, fallen in love, had a baby, moved from NYC to Seattle to Missouri to Arizona, and changed perspectives more times than she can count.

A believer that ‘following your intuition is like dancing to a song in your head that no one else can hear’, Iris helps people heal through listening to their bodies and learning to trust and follow their inner voice. Iris recently launched the Goldilocks Movement, a virtual retreat where you can find e-courses on creativity, intuition, exercise, healthy eating, career, self-love, body-love, and more.

Lisa’s career highlights include delivering a TEDxWomen talk ‘Changing The Things We Can Not Accept’, being named Entrepreneur of the Year and being featured in Business Week for her unique franchise concept.

However, she has more pride in her philanthropic efforts – having raised over $1M for local causes, and founding Cool Kids Code, a program that teaches free computer coding classes to hundreds of Central Oregon kids.

Then….she turned 40. We call it a mid-life “moment of clarity”. She hung up her C-level badges and airline frequent flyer status and blended business with pleasure – turning her hobby of rescuing and renovating vintage travel trailers into a business. While a believer in teaching her kids how to create technology, she’s simultaneously encouraging the importance of making memories – which are more important.

An author, international speaker, Master Trainer of Integrated Coaching and life coach, Rachel Eva is a true powerhouse. As the founder and head trainer of the Integrative Wellness Academy, she has been featured as a guest expert on radio, television, and at international conferences. In addition to writing several books on integrative wellness, she is also a contributing writer for numerous magazines.

Rachel is certified in 17 modalities that support her integrative and holistic approach to coaching, self-development teachings, programs and curriculum. Her work is designed to support the change her students seek in a balanced and empowering way that creates the best life possible.

It’s Rachel’s firm belief that your past does not define your future and that we can all be empowered to live the life we have always desired.

Matt Miller is a former United States Air Force pilot turned entrepreneur, who took a chance with less than $50 and turned it into a thriving business. Matt is the Founder of School Spirit Vending, where he provides opportunities for people to generate passive income while helping schools with their fundraising needs.

Wanting more freedom (both financially and personally) he purchased a used gumball machine off eBay and leveraged it to raise over $3 million for education.

Today, Matt and his team provide passive fundraising for close to 2,000 schools across 30 states.

This week’s guest isn’t new to The Startup Sessions. Andrea Leda was featured in Episode 47 and is back with me today to talk about the many changes that have happened since her first appearance.

Andrea Leda is a Spiritual Coach, writer, speaker, Journal Teacher and Guide. Andrea has made it her purpose to help conscious entrepreneurs and soul seekers become grounded and offer their greatest gifts to the world in a very real, natural and joyful way.

Andrea combines powerful coaching with her intuitive gifts to help us fully realize our potential and understand that we don’t interact with the world by watching it, but rather by how we see it.

In this episode, Andrea will discuss how she stepped into her own power by embracing her true calling and making it the nucleus of her work.

If you feel that you’re right on the edge of offering your very best to the world, this discussion might just be the nudge that allows you to take a deep breath and make the leap towards the most authentic version of YOU.

And I’m doing something totally new in this episode that I’ve never done before. I’m collaborating with my guest on January 19th and offering a live coaching workshop called Creating a Business with Soul. Be sure to tell us if you’re interested in this event and we’ll send you the details.

 Andrea answers the Lightning Round:

Happy New Year! This week’s guest offers you a powerful way to kick off 2016. Caroline Frenette knows that you are more capable than you might realize – so she’s going to challenge you to step into your natural state of power and give it everything you’ve got.

Caroline is a certified Transformative Coach® (aka Supercoach) and one of just a handful of people on the planet to hold the title of Master Intuitive Coach®. She is also the lead instructor of Broke To Blissfully Booked™.

Caroline is a seasoned entrepreneur (from retail to online business), a former fashion designer (her clothes made the cover of top fashion magazines such as Elle Canada & FASHION magazine), and she’s a lifelong devotee of the yogic arts and globe-trotting the world.

Through her extensive life and business experience, Caroline helps other business owners develop a deep inner security along with the confidence and strength that will transform the way they do business forever.

The new year gives you the opportunity to start with a clean slate and Caroline will connect you with your infinite creativity and awaken your inner CEO.

Here are some of Caroline’s favorite things:

Do you struggle to focus on the one or two things that will make the biggest difference? Or maybe you constantly fall into the trap of getting pulled from one distraction to another?

My guest this week has a truly unique approach for dealing with overwhelm and distractions.

Mark Silverman spent 15 years in the technology start-up world before making the transition to Executive coach, entrepreneur and best-selling author. His dedication to leadership and being of service has proven to be the perfect complement for creating an extraordinary life and business.

Mark is the new author of an Amazon bestseller, Only 10s: Using Distraction to Get the Right Things Done. Struggling with ADD, Mark found it hard to finish his daily to-do list. However, he noticed that when he was passionate about a project, he naturally became focused and would easily complete it. In this discussion, Mark shares his simple and profound approach for getting the right things done.

Distractions are unavoidable but Mark’s unique approach harnesses natural passion, motivation and drive to help clear the deck and get the right things done consistently. He does this by learning to say “No” and embracing the creative flow.

Here are some of Mark’s favorite things:

Are you caught in the trap of trading time for dollars? And, have you taken the steps to protect your business assets?

My guest this week will share the benefits of turning services into successful products along with revealing the top legal mistakes of entrepreneurs.

Rachel Rodgers has been disrupting the legal industry since 2010 with her bold and innovative ideas. Rachel is a business lawyer, intellectual property strategist, creator of Small Business Bodyguard, and Founder of Rodgers Collective, a non-traditional law firm in New York City.

If you’re starting a business, running a business, or selling anything online – or off – you can’t afford to ignore your business’ legal needs. Make 2016 the year that you take care of the legal stuff correctly and quickly, so you can keep doing the work you love with confidence and peace of mind.

Show Highlights

Running your own business can be the best way to experience a life of freedom and adventure. But lets be honest. In order to create a successful business, it takes a lot of hustle and hard work. And way too many people waste their time and energy on the wrong things and doing things in the wrong order.

Fortunately, this week’s guest has made it her mission to help entrepreneurs move past the feeling of overwhelm and confusion. Rebecca Tracey has taken her life of adventure and has blended it with her straightforward approach to help entrepreneurs build successful and sustainable online businesses.

Rebecca started her business out of a van during an eight-month road trip so she knows that anything is possible. She’s the Founder of The Uncaged Life and she’s helped over 600 clients find their message, build packages that sell, and learn how to do business their way.

Fear and doubt can stop even the best entrepreneurs. That’s why I invited Rebecca to share some important insights about how to keep moving forward and how to stay focused on the right things in your business. Because when you focus on the RIGHT things, your business won’t feel so hard. It can actually be easy, and it can happen sooner that you might think.

Here are some of Rebecca’s favorite things: