The Startup Sessions with Michael Knouse

Alexis Logan works with pioneers, ambitious go-getters, CEOs, and conscious leaders who want to live their soul’s purpose, transform lives and the world, and make more money doing what they love in a simpler way. There is a more effective way of running your life and business that brings you joy, happiness, and a life full of fun.

At an early age, Alexis felt that she couldn’t be her true self. Growing up, she pushed herself to excel at academics and sports. While she was always successful, she never truly felt fulfilled, whole or happy.

After a big wake up call she finally came to terms with her soul and began her journey as an entrepreneur. Now, Alexis helps others come to the same realization that when you are aligned with your soul, success and happiness will follow.

If you’ve lost the passion for what you do, you’re starting to experience burnout or you’re just surviving in business but looking for what’s next, Alexis will provide you with key insights and a strategy for following your soul to the money.

Here are some of Alexis’ favorite things:

Branded a “Moxie Maven” by the White House for her unique and effective approach to developing rising leaders, Alexia Vernon has become a go-to thought leader, speaker, coach and trainer for executives, entrepreneurs and rising leaders.

Founder of Influencer Academy, Alexia provides coaching and training in public speaking, persuasion, negotiation, facilitation and thought leadership. She also leads Your Spotlight Talk, a virtual group-coaching program for visionary entrepreneurs, change agents and leaders who are ready to lead transformational workshops for their communities.

Alexia has a gift for helping people find their voice. She encountered an on-again-off-again relationship with her own voice for many years and now she helps others excavate the stuff that is stopping them from really speaking out. Not only does Alexia support her clients in finding their voice, she takes it a step further and helps them create complete transformation for their audiences.

If you know it’s time to spread your message and your reach but you aren’t sure where to begin, or you’re wondering how to push past your introverted tendencies, Alexia will offer several essential strategies in this episode to help you get out of your comfort zone and step into the spotlight.

Here are some of Alexia’s favorite things:

Kelly Fidel knew at an early age that she had a passion, and knack, for sales. She has gone from selling avocados door-to-door at the age of 9 to being an award-winning entrepreneur. Now she’s known as America’s premier sales strategist and profit acceleration mentor.

Kelly is CEO and Founder of No Glass CeilingTM, where she helps people shatter their inner glass ceiling and land higher paying clients.

Kelly’s purpose is to help entrepreneurs break through their mental barriers or “blind spots,” and help them serve the clients and markets that will give them the biggest return in both satisfaction and dollars.

If you’re trying to play a bigger game but find that you keep making excuses, Kelly is going to rock your world with a lot of great examples, inspiration and motivation in this power-packed episode.

Get ready to move past your fears and excuses and move towards the business results you deserve.

Here are some of Kelly’s favorite things:

David Schneider is no stranger to the ups and downs of following his own path. A Harvard graduate turned travel blogger, David made the leap to entrepreneurship and never looked back.

Knowing that his travel blog business was no longer working, David decided to switch gears and focus his time and energy on something more sustainable. Today, he’s in the trenches building NinjaOutreach.com, a blogger outreach SaaS solution which offers a variety of services for bloggers, startups, small businesses, and digital marketers.

(Update – Dave no longer runs NinjaOutreach, but can be found at lesschurn.io and daveschneider.me)

In this week’s episode, I sit down with David to discuss the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and the lessons learned along the way.

If you’re just starting out, or feeling the strain of trying to get your new venture off the ground, David will provide you with some valuable insights that will allow you to bypass the big mistakes that he made.

Here are some of David’s favorite things:

My guest this week is an emotional intelligence coach for entrepreneurs. Olga Bochareva is no stranger to anxiety and emotional blocks herself. Starting in 2013, after feeling anxiety around going back to work from her second maternity leave, Olga quit her job, went back to school and started her own business – all while raising an infant and 3-year-old.

Working only 25 hours a week, she created a thriving business tutoring math students and then transitioned to become a leading Emotional Intelligence Coach for Entrepreneurs. Today, Olga has pivoted her business to work with entrepreneurs and help them overcome the subconscious fears that are holding them, and their businesses, back.

This episode is a great one if you find that you’re constantly “hitting the wall” in your business. Olga even walks us through a quick EFT session to show how it can release feelings of stress, fear, and anxiety – all of which could be holding you back from achieving success.

Join us as we clean up your emotional hygiene and change your business for good.

Here are some of Olga’s favorite things:

Motivational speaker, author and mentor Shannon Graham has spent the last 12 years helping businesses and individuals reach their highest potential through his highly effective strategies and coaching. Not only is he recognized as one of the premier motivational speakers and leaders in the self-help coaching industry, Shannon is bringing the focus back to making a deeper impact through meaningful connections.

When Shannon noticed that coaching had taken a turn towards automation – which created a lack of intimacy and accountability – he leveraged his experience and awareness to develop the Legacy program. This one-on-one, highly intensive, year-long immersion brings human connection and accountability back to coaching.

Shannon’s work is for highly committed individuals who will accept no other reality than a complete commitment and dedication to reaching their dreams.

If you’re looking for inspiration and clarity on how to make your business stand out, Shannon will describe how making a simple change can have a large, lasting, and positive impact on your life and your business.

Get ready as we rediscover the humanity of business and utilize real connections to propel your business forward.

Here are some of Shannon’s favorite things:

Everyone who’s had the pleasure of working with Michelle Slayter agrees that she has a passion for life and people. Starting her first business at a young age in the fashion industry, Michelle was living a life of success. However, after the death of her mother she realized that things needed to change.

Determined to find meaning, she sold her company and took some time off to focus inwards and reconnect with herself. As a result, Michelle started the journey down her current path where she dedicates herself to helping others be the fullest expressions of themselves.

Speaker, lifestyle designer, coach, author, and founder of the High Class Hippie, Michelle uses her life experiences to shape her business, promote personal growth and help support her clients.

Michelle has learned that life is all about who you are becoming. If you’re looking to get more out of your life, relationships and your business, Michelle provides some incredible insights into how you can achieve more by living a healthy lifestyle, putting yourself first, and redefining who you are.

Join us in this engaging discussion about finding truth in our struggles and knowing that everything you seek externally can be found within.

Here are some of Michelle’s favorite things:

Authenticity is something that’s deeply important to Michael Hellerslien. Michael has followed his desire to serve others while becoming an inspirational life and business coach for conscious entrepreneurs.

After years of working in the corporate world, Michael found that it was no longer aligning with who he was. Deciding to be truest version of himself, he started his own business supporting entrepreneurs with becoming authentic and fearless in their endeavors.

Michael currently has several projects underway including the Mindset of the Fearless Entrepreneur and the Fearless Coaching Academy. Both of these projects are raising the level of consciousness for entrepreneurs while providing a community for people to build a business around authenticity, self-love, and fearlessness.

If you’re ready to create the meaningful business and lifestyle you deserve, this episode will open your eyes to what’s really possible for you. Get ready to shift your beliefs about yourself and the potential that you have to offer as Michael dives into the truth about living as a Fearless Entrepreneur.

Here are some of Michael’s favorite things:

Aaron Walker is, without question, one of the most experienced entrepreneurs I’ve had on the show. He started his first business at age 18 and sold it to a Fortune 500 company nine years later. Unwilling to rest on his past success, Aaron started, bought, and sold eight more successful companies.

Having a strong desire to help others has brought Aaron to his most recent business project. He’s the founder of View from the Top, a premier life and business coaching resource where he is dedicated to helping men grow in both Success and Significance.

If you’re looking for a no-nonsense approach to growing your business in a sustainable way, this episode will deliver a wealth of knowledge, wisdom and ideas from a guy that’s been a successful entrepreneur for the past 36 years.

Get ready to immerse yourself in some of the most solid foundational business principles that have ever been mentioned on this show. These will set you up for making a difference while making a profit.

Here are some of Aaron’s favorite things:

Have you ever felt that your relationship with money is tied up in knots? My guest this week has a passion for untangling money knots. Shell Tain is a certified coach, speaker, facilitator and expert with helping her clients navigate their money issues.

From an early age, money management was part of her dad’s plan. For Shell to get her allowance, her little ledger book had to be balanced. It didn’t matter what she chose to spend the money on; the only thing that mattered was the balanced ledger.

Her father took the time to teach Shell how to track her money, account for it and make it work to her advantage. This practice has helped her in her career as a financial Controller and now as the Founder of Sensible Coaching.

Listen in as Shell unravels the reasons why most of us behave a certain way when it comes to money and how to change those behaviors to untangle ourselves from our financial knots.

Here are some of Shell’s favorite things: