Learn more about the incredible entrepreneur behind our April Hey Helen Grant! 🎉 In this conversation, I sit down with Tamara (Mara) Henderson, founder of the Enchanted Immersive Zoological Center (EIZC), to talk about building one of the most unique educational animal experiences in the country. From serving as a United States Marine and firefighter to launching a hands-on zoological center focused on STEM education, conservation, and unforgettable animal encounters, Mara’s story is one of resilience, vision, and determination.

We also dive into what winning the Hey Helen Grant meant for her business, how the funding is already making an impact, and the realities of applying for grants as an entrepreneur. If you’ve ever wondered how to write a stronger grant application, stay motivated after rejection, or build a business around an unconventional dream, this conversation is for you.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, educator, nonprofit founder, grant seeker, animal lover, or simply someone chasing a big vision, I hope this interview reminds you that sometimes all it takes is one person believing in your dream.

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📌 Handy Links

👉 Apply for the Hey Helen Grant

👉 Learn more about the Enchanted Immersive Zoological Center

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🕒 Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

00:30 Meet April Hey Helen Grant winner Tamara Henderson

02:00 Building a hands-on immersive zoological center

05:30 How the grant is helping the business grow

07:00 Turning STEM into STEAM through creativity

09:30 What visitors experience at the zoo

17:30 Working with children and special needs groups

20:00 The surprising therapeutic benefits of animals

22:00 What winning the Hey Helen Grant meant

25:00 Grant writing advice and applying multiple times

31:00 Common grant application mistakes

35:30 Tips for writing a stronger grant application

41:00 Media outreach advice for entrepreneurs

47:00 Final encouragement

If you’ve ever talked yourself out of applying for grant funding because you assumed you weren’t the “right kind” of business, this episode is your reality check.

In this breakdown, I'm walking you through exactly how the first Hey Helen Grant winner was selected — and more importantly, how she wasn’t. Industry favoritism? Nope. Revenue bias? Also nope. Platform size, niche appeal, or whether the business felt “cool enough”? Completely irrelevant. What did matter was something far less glamorous and far more controllable: the clarity of the application itself. If you’ve ever wondered what grant reviewers are actually scanning for once they’re 50 applications deep, this episode delivers the answer (at least for me!).

Resources mentioned:

• Learn more and apply for the Hey Helen Grant
• Learn more about the grant winner, CeCe Cheng, and her company, ShareWell
• Access my grant training (no opt in required!)

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• What I noticed almost immediately once I started reading applications — and how fast unclear ideas got eliminated
• The real reason traction matters (and why you don’t need customers yet to prove it)
• What most founders think impact means — versus how reviewers actually recognize it
• Why saying [insert big flashy statement here] works against you unless you can back it up with receipts
• The framework I use to evaluate grants that founders can reverse-engineer for themselves

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. . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea
• Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries
• Visit us on the web at visionaries.co
• Come network with us in The Visionaries Collective

When Lyrik Fryer built WorkPlay Branding, she wasn’t necessarily trying to be disruptive — she just didn’t want to keep living in the adrenaline crash around the revenue model that comes with project-based work. So she did the thing no one else in her industry was doing: she swapped one-off client projects for a high-ticket, yearlong membership model that now meets clients anywhere in the world.

But what looks effortless from the outside was built on systems, spreadsheets, and a ruthless commitment to structure. In this conversation, we get into how she engineered consistency and how she used systems to create freedom and high profit margins. If you’ve ever looked at your calendar and thought, “there has to be a saner way to do this,” you're going to love this conversation.

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⭐️ Love this episode? We'd GREATLY appreciate a 5-star review! ⭐️

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• Why Lyrik stopped chasing $6K projects — and how it gave her a seven-figure business that also regulated her nervous system
• Lyrik's rule and financial threshold that keeps profit margins tight
• The #1 thing she swears by for running a thriving business and managing a team
• Why she thinks creatives need to stop hiding from numbers — and the straight-shooting pep talk she gives to anyone who does
• The trade-off between instant cash and recurring revenue — and why patience paid off
• What Lyrik looked at to flip her revenue model then turn it into a global operation

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea
• Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries
• Visit us on the web at visionaries.co
• Come network with us in The Visionaries Collective

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Lyrik Fryer is the co-founder of WorkPlay Branding, a tech-enabled creative production company redefining how brands scale their visual presence. With a background in PR and advertising, she has led creative campaigns and produced content for major brands and entrepreneurs including Target, Kajabi, Kate Northrup, Selena Soo, Jordan Gill, and Ellen Yin. Through WorkPlay’s signature WorkPlay Method™, she has helped businesses drive six- and seven-figure launches while building world-class creative ecosystems.

Her expertise has been featured in Business Insider, where she shared her vision for merging luxury-level creative direction with technology to democratize high-impact branding for entrepreneurs and enterprises alike. Beyond WorkPlay, Lyrik is also the founder of Gloss Up, a beauty brand merging modern luxury with community-driven storytelling. Known for blending strategy, storytelling, and aesthetics, she continues to scale creative platforms that empower both brands and the next generation of creatives worldwide.

Connect with Lyrik:

• On Instagram @workplaybranding
• Connect with Lyrik on Instagram directly @lyrik.fryer
• On the web at workplaybranding.com
• Book a call for your business branding!

What if your next sale wasn’t coming from your funnel, or your content, or your perfectly optimized sales page… but from someone else’s inbox? That’s exactly what today’s guest, Nikki Trailor, has spent the last two years quietly refining. She’s built a relationship-based referral system that now brings in 2–3 qualified high ticket leads every single month taking just two hours per week (talk about ROI!).

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⭐️ Love this episode? We'd GREATLY appreciate a 5-star review! ⭐️

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• The quiet 2-hour-a-week routine that’s generated $100K+ in revenue in the last two years alone
• How a single message inside a Facebook group led to a full inbox, an $8K client, and multiple passive product sales — literally overnight
• Why you should never assume a competitor won’t refer clients to you — and the $60K proof that changed her mind
• The subtle way Nikki initiates cold DMs without feeling like a bro marketer
• How she vets potential partners without asking invasive questions — and the casual touchpoints that reveal everything she needs to know
• Nikki's system for following up and staying top-of-mind for her partners without being annoying or needy
• The single most overlooked piece of a successful referral system — and why ignoring this costs you more than you realize

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea
• Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries
• Visit us on the web at visionaries.co
• Come network with us in The Visionaries Collective

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Nikki Trailor is a launch + funnel strategist who helps coaches and course creators add 5-6 figures to their monthly revenue, without launching new offers or increasing their ad spend. She's a roller skater, puzzle addict, and dance-obsessed marketing nerd who's on a mission to help more online CEOs scale their business while maintaining a spacious calendar.

Connect with Nikki:

• Say hi on Instagram @nikki_trailor
• Register for Nikki's FREE masterclass on How to DOUBLE Your Launch or Funnel Revenue

Most people think a website redesign is about swapping in some fresh colors, new photos, and fonts that feel “less 2012.” But as Rachel Seid explains, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. What actually makes a site unforgettable — and profitable — comes down to how it looks, how it functions, how it feels, and what it communicates at first glance.

In this episode, Rachel walks through her signature 4 “alities” framework and shows how those four layers completely transform the way a site performs. From design decisions that make a business instantly more relatable, to the subtle cues that communicate a brand’s value proposition without a word — this is a crash course in building a website that works harder than you do.

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⭐️ Love this episode? We'd GREATLY appreciate a 5-star review! ⭐️

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• The biggest misconception business owners have about what makes a website “work” — and why looks are only a fraction of the formula
• The subtle difference between a website that looks polished and one that actually gets people to take action
• Why most competitors' sites looks the same industry-wide — and how injecting personality can instantly separate you from them
• The often-ignored piece of branding that makes your website feel forgettable instead of magnetic
• The hidden role of imagery and why sometimes, the images you're using are doing you a serious disservice

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• Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea
• Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries
• Visit us on the web at visionaries.co
• Come network with us in The Visionaries Collective

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Rachel Seid is a Squarespace web designer and Head Honcho at Bright Seid Design. She is obsessed with creating beautiful, functional websites that are easy for business owners and small teams to manage themselves. Her web design process establishes genuine personal connections with her clients that enable her to build personality-packed websites that feel as authentic as they do professional. Today she helps solopreneurs, small businesses, and non-profits build simple, easy-to-use websites that become powerful marketing tools to attract and convert dream clients.

Connect with Rachel:

• Website: https://www.brightseiddesign.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrsbrightseid
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelseid/
• View Rachel's services and book a call to work together

When Rachel Seid left her nonprofit job to pursue web design, she didn’t know that what began as a scrappy side project would turn into a business that allows her to be fully herself — in her words: loud, passionate, and unwilling to settle for mediocrity. Her early days were filled with $800 websites, cobbled-together code, and the dizzying task of managing every platform under the sun. But through trial, error, and a knack for reading how people actually think and behave, she found her zone of genius: building personality-packed Squarespace sites that don’t just look good, but actually work.

What sets Rachel apart isn’t just her technical skill. It’s the way she weaves adaptability, storytelling, and human psychology into every stage of her business. From managing the tension between feast-and-famine cycles to designing a sales process that makes prospects feel seen before they even sign, Rachel has built a company rooted in freedom and fun — two things she refuses to compromise on. In this episode, she opens up about how she’s reshaped her pricing, her sales strategy, and her confidence, all while proving that sustainability in business comes down to one thing: flexibility.

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⭐️ Love this episode? We'd GREATLY appreciate a 5-star review! ⭐️

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• The disconnect Rachel noticed between “cool” brands and her nonprofit events, and what it revealed about marketing strategy
• The unusual thing that gave Rachel a sharper edge in web design than a traditional marketing degree ever could
• The messy first years of taking “any project under the sun” and the moment she realized it wasn’t sustainable
• The accidental $8,700 project that taught her to expand her perception of what clients were willing to pay
• How motherhood forced a dramatic overnight price increase — and how she was able to support selling at such higher rates
• The difference between selling $800 and $3,600 websites and $10,000+ websites — and how she changed her entire sales process to match
• Why Rachel starts every call with a visual presentation — and how customizing slides with tiny personal details helps her close
• The four “alities” Rachel uses to design sites that actually convert — that you can use to get your site to convert better

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea
• Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries
• Visit us on the web at visionaries.co
• Come network with us in The Visionaries Collective

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rachel Seid is a Squarespace web designer and Head Honcho at Bright Seid Design. She is obsessed with creating beautiful, functional websites that are easy for business owners and small teams to manage themselves. Her web design process establishes genuine personal connections with her clients that enable her to build personality-packed websites that feel as authentic as they do professional. Today she helps solopreneurs, small businesses, and non-profits build simple, easy-to-use websites that become powerful marketing tools to attract and convert dream clients.

Connect with Rachel:

• Website: https://www.brightseiddesign.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrsbrightseid
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelseid/
• View Rachel's services and book a call to work together

When you tell a story, it's all about the audience. Today's guest, April Pertuis, spent years in TV news learning how to extract the moment that matters — the line that illuminates a room like, well, light. That word kept following her until it became a mandate through LIGHTbeamers: help women turn lived experience into communication that deeply resonate and moves an audience.

In this conversation, we dig into how she rebuilt her career around that idea and why speaking — keynotes, workshops, the mic in a room full of decision-makers — became her highest-leverage growth engine. April walks through how she wrote a keynote, practiced until it lived in her body, and then turned intention into a tracker that led to 25 talks and ~$100k in back-end revenue in a year.

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⭐️ Love this episode? We'd GREATLY appreciate a 5-star review! ⭐️

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

• The counter-intuitive first question great storytellers ask themselves before they write a line and why it changes which story you pick
• A simple gut-check that trims the indulgent details no audience needs — and keeps the right ones that create resonance
• The “scar vs wound” filter for vulnerable stories so your audience feels moved rather than responsible for your emotions
• The four-part speaker engine April built and how to know where your own bottleneck is
• A year of stages, $97,800 in revenue, and what actually drove the dollars on the back end
• How April repackages the same core ideas for different rooms with simple, small tweaks 
• The “speaker flywheel” metaphor that keeps bookings compounding — and when to tap it again to maintain momentum

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• Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea
• Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries
• Visit us on the web at visionaries.co
• Come network with us in The Visionaries Collective

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April Adams Pertuis is a Visibility and Media specialist. She is in the business of storytelling. Her philosophy is “everyone has a story” and she’s fascinated with getting to the Core of what that story is. April’s career spans more than 30 years as a journalist, producer, writer, and positive encourager. She is an award-winning video journalist who has worked for CBS Television, HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, and numerous private industries where she has interviewed thousands of people and crafted their story as a result.

Today, April works with people and brands to help them tell their story in a more authentic way so they can reach more customers, attract new clients, grow their audience, and ultimately tap into their true power. April leads retreats, workshops, and storytelling symposiums throughout the year to take women on a storytelling journey — helping them tap into their authentic voice and learn the power of their words. Her motto is “when we share our stories, we shine our light” — and her goal is to have women share their journey more openly so it may inspire others to do the same.

Connect with April:

• On Instagram
• On LinkedIn
• On Facebook
• On the web at lightbeamers.com
• Get April's FREE story formula guide

Oh heyyyy, long time no talk! In this comeback episode of The Visionary Files, I’m chatting about what’s really been happening these past four months — the decisions I didn’t plan to make, the ones I had to make, and the one choice that catapulted Visionaries into the fastest growth I’ve ever experienced in business. This isn’t a tale of “I burned it all down and came back better” but rather a moment of recalibration, a glimpse inside the mess of success, and an honest reflection on the discomfort of watching everything grow faster than your systems can catch up.

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⭐️ Love this episode? We'd GREATLY appreciate a 5-star review! ⭐️

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• The single decision that triggered explosive growth — even though it didn’t feel that big at the time
• How I had a community that felt like a total flop — then how it grew 7x almost overnight
• Why I chose to stop making money right as the business was doing what I wanted it to do
• How the thing that made zero financial sense became the most pivotal decision of the year
• The most non-negotiable thing you can have as a business owner that I discovered in this season... BIG time
• What’s next for Visionaries (including the boldest, riskiest thing I've ever planned)

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• Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea
• Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries
• Visit us on the web at visionaries.co
• Come network with us in The Visionaries Collective

When people say relationships are the key to business, it’s usually code for “go network more.” But this episode is the story of what it looks like when relationships are the business model — before social media, before funnels, and before most people reading this could even drive.

This is my untold scrappy startup story built on trust, reputation, and the kind of generosity that opens doors you didn’t even know existed.

WHAT’S INSIDE THIS EPISODE:

• Why my most “successful” marketing efforts barely moved the needle
• The “unicorn” opportunity that came from a decades-long relationship (and how to be ready when your version of it arrives)
• What I learned about marketing before I knew what marketing even was
• The growth strategy that was my rocket fuel (that is WAY underutilized by people in online business)
• My origin story I've never told… involving MySpace, major record labels, and street teams
• The subtle but powerful shift in how relationships serve you at different business stages
• My unfiltered take on visibility strategies that didn’t work — and the two that still matter most

Resources:

• Predictable Sales: a secret podcast around making predictable – even daily – sales
• Your First 10 Sales: a secret podcast perfect for if you're not making consistent sales yet

Connect with Adriane:

• Adriane's Instagram
• Visionaries' Instagram
• Adriane's LinkedIn
• Visit the Visionaries website

⭐️ Love this episode? We'd GREATLY appreciate a 5-star review! ⭐️

Once upon a time, I hosted a masterclass that had what I thought was a terrible conversion rate — until it wasn't. Not a single person bought on the call. But in the days that followed? EVERY person who attended wound up buying.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the four-part framework I’ve used (and taught behind-the-scenes) to drive wildly high conversion rates — ethically, educationally, and without a bait-and-switch in sight. If you’ve ever felt allergic to bro marketing, or you want to sell on a masterclass but don’t want it to feel manipulative or predatory… this one’s for you.

What's Inside This Episode:

• What I was taught that made my educator brain absolutely cringe and how most webinar frameworks get it completely backwards
• My secret weapon for not only teaching, but converting sales — using learning design to teach people to buy better
• The reason I refuse to teach anything I wouldn’t use in my actual program
• The one thing I HAVE changed about masterclasses to evolve with what works today
• Why I only attract people who already believe they’re capable
• My signature take on “consent-based selling” — and how I bake it in to every sales presentation
• How you can steal this approach and build your own cash-converting masterclass

• Let's be friends on the 'gram – @visionariesonline or @adrianegalea
• Connect on Linkedin – with Adriane or Visionaries
• Visit us on the web at visionaries.co
• Come network with us in The Visionaries Collective

⭐️ Love this episode? We'd GREATLY appreciate a 5-star review! ⭐️