Welcome To Eloma

“We can create a plan, and we can work towards executing that plan, but there's always going to be things that come up unexpectedly,” explains host Kiley Peters. No matter how well you plan, there will always be some kind of change that happens. Managing change by learning how to pivot to a new strategy is a critical skill for everyone, especially entrepreneurs. Today, Kiley shares five tips for navigating change that she found helpful when pursuing a new direction for her own business.

The first thing to keep in mind when managing change is to not react immediately. Instead of allowing that emotional gut reaction to influence your response, take some time to really think through what you want to say. The next thing to consider is running the numbers and seeing what actually is the bare minimum that needs to be done. With these numbers in mind, re-evaluate your strategy. When there is a major shift in your business, especially if the overall direction or concept changes, you will need to change your strategy accordingly. Lastly, re-engage both proactively and transparently, making sure to include all team members in the discussions so that everyone is on the same page about the business.

Pivoting with change may not always come naturally, but it is a key skill for being a successful business owner. No matter how hard you try to plan everything, there will always be things outside of your control and things that happen unexpectedly. By knowing how to react when change occurs, you can find ways to use it to your advantage rather than seeing it in a negative light.

Quotes

• “We can create a plan, and we can work towards executing that plan, but there's always going to be things that come up unexpectedly.” (0:36-0:45 | Kiley)
• “There's always change, there's always pivot, there's always something. Sometimes we see it coming, sometimes we don’t.” (15:29-15:36 | Kiley) 
• “Resist your immediate response. So often when we get news that is not ideal, we fire back in a hasty text, or slack, or email or whatever it is. And that's 99.9% of the time, not what you really wanted to say, or not how you really felt or wasn't well articulated. So resist that immediate response.” (16:25-16:55 | Kiley)
• “Depending on whatever changes are coming your way, sometimes your game plan has to shift.” (17:39-17:45 | Kiley)
• “When you have the people in your life that you can be open and honest and vulnerable and transparent with, you can really get a lot farther, faster.” (19:14-19:24 | Kiley)

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“We all have room to be so much more intentional about calendar design,” shares Jenny Blake, podcast host and author. Her newest book, Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business, emphasizes ways business owners can implement smarter systems powered by Delightfully Tiny Teams. Jenny’s mission is to help save not only business owners’ time, but everyone involved in the business. 

It can be a real challenge for entrepreneurs to build free time into their schedules. This is especially true in the beginning when they tend to be wearing many hats and when they may not have all their systems in place yet. Studies have shown that while doing everything by yourself can lead to burnout, having too large of a team to manage can also cause difficulties. Jenny explains that there is a sort of ‘Goldilocks’ team size that will differ based on the preferences of the business owner and the type of business they are running. By designing scalability and recurring revenue streams into your business model and delegating tasks outside of your zone of genius to others, you will find that you have more free time available.

Time is an incredibly important and precious resource. When you can gift yourself back free time to spend with yourself or your loved ones, you will be happier in your business and less likely to burn out. 

Quotes

• “In terms of free time, I also want to help save business owners time of having to document really useful ways to work to set everybody's time free, not just the owner, but everybody who's a part of it, and do it in a way that's heart based.” (2:41-2:55 | Jenny)
• “The goal is for every area of the business, really look at the stuff that you love and want to do and are great at doing. And then sometimes you have to take that big leap and invest more than you think or more than you're ready to offload it to somebody who knows what they're doing more than you.” (18:01-18:15 | Jenny) 
• “We all have room to be so much more intentional about calendar design.” (19:37-19:41 | Jenny) 
• “I really do encourage you to have at least one other person working in the business.” (25:30-25:33 | Jenny)

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Jenny Blake

Website: Itsfreetime.com

Website: pivotmethod.com

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“Research still shows that even if you're highly engaged, invigorated, challenged, and excited about your work, it contributes to strain. It wears you down and depletes your bodily resources,” explains Nina Nesdoly, founder of Workplace Clarity. As a work stress and burnout prevention speaker and researcher, Nina’s mission is to spread the word on the benefits of rest for increasing productivity.

Entrepreneurs often end up burned out quickly because they think they need to be working intensively for 8 hours a day or more. In a corporate environment, much of the day is spent on non-work activities, socializing, or sitting in meetings. Most people aren’t going hard at their work and being super focused for more than 3 or 4 hours in a row. If you try to keep up the pace of working intensively for so many hours, you will deplete your body of valuable resources and risk burn out. By incorporating rest into your day, you will be able to be more productive while also being less stressed. 

Rest comes in many forms, but the main categories are stress relief and work recovery. Stress relief activities tend to be more active and are meant for getting the tension out of your body, whereas work recovery activities are meant for protecting your resources. Incorporating quick wins like leveraging sensory cues, detaching from work related thoughts, and not waiting until every task is done for stress relief, can be a large help in building opportunities for rest into your day.

Quotes

• “Your brain and your body have a finite capacity for productivity. You can only focus and be productive for so many hours in a day.” (1:53-2:03 | Nina)
• “Research still shows that even if you're highly engaged, invigorated, challenged, excited about your work, it contributes to strain. It wears you down and depletes your bodily resources.” (2:11-2:23 | Nina)
• “When you are resting and when you are not focused on work specifically, your mind can wander, form new ideas, attach existing ideas. Your mind is focused on future planning and ideation, and that's sometimes where we get our best ideas.” (2:49-3:08 | Nina)
• “If you take a look at sensory information, what you see, smell, taste, hear, and even feel, the clothes on your body that you associate with work verses that you associate with personal time, you can create differentiations between those. So either get the work cues away from yourself, so that you can really detach, or create contrasting cues in your personal time.” (16:07-16:32 | Nina)
• “The goal is to get to a place where rather than feeling like you need to survive periods of your life and your business, you can enjoy them. Your life is not on the other side of some accomplishment or of some milestone in your business, your life is happening now. So long term, our goal is to get to a place where we are consistently enjoying the journey.” (19:31-19:55 | Nina) 

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Nina Nesdoly

Instagram: instagram.com/workplaceclarity

TikTok: tiktok.com/@workplaceclarity

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-nesdoly/

Website: www.workplaceclarity.com

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“We really set out to build a community, and that's really how it's coming together,” shares Stephanie Melnick, attorney and owner of Melnick & Melnick,  a Milwaukee law firm that serves small businesses and their owners. Stephanie is also the founder of She Stands Tall, a speaker series featuring women entrepreneurs. Recently she took over Milwaukee’s Women Entrepreneurship Week. Today, she discusses how to use lead generation events and activities to expand your business.

Lead generation activities and events are a great way to expand your business and foster local community at the same time. Women small business owners tend to really excel when it comes to supporting one another. By hosting or even just attending events, you can expand your network with other like minded business owners. As entrepreneurs, it is important to remember that it is always okay to ask for help. You do not have to do everything by yourself. Build a community that you can lean on because we can all achieve so much more by working together. 

When you build a strong community, everyone benefits. No matter what stage of business you are in, there is always more to learn and someone who will have more knowledge than you. By expanding your network, you can learn from one another and grow your businesses to larger heights. 

Quotes

• “We really set out to build a community, and that's really how it's coming together.” (16:26-16:33 | Stephanie)
• “Some of it is just increasing our network, learning about more people that are doing this and trying to help figure out how we can do it together.” (21:19-21:31 | Stephanie)
• “If you're going to add something to your business that's related, but not, you’ve got to ask for help.” (24:45-24:50 | Stephanie)
• “We stand taller together.” (32:31-32:32 | Stephanie)

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Stephanie Melnick:

Social Media Handles:

Melnick & Melnick, S.C. 

She Stands Tall, LLC

Website URLS:

https://melnickmelnick.com/ 

https://shestandstallmke.com/

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“Most authors give up too soon. They give up before they finish their book, they give up on their publishing plan, because it takes too long. And then if they do manage to get their book to market, they give up on selling it,” shares AJ Harper, editor and publishing strategist, head writing coach for Heroic Public Speaking, writing partner to business author Mike Michalowicz, and author of Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives--Including Your Own. Today, AJ calls on her years of experience working with bestselling authors to talk about how to write a must-read book. 

The first step to writing a book is knowing who your reader is. By knowing exactly who you are writing for, what they need, and what they perceive is standing in their way, you can write a book that speaks directly to their experience. When people feel seen on the first page of a book, they are likely to continue reading. The next step is to get very clear on your core message. This should be a fundamental truth that can create change in the reader even if that message is the only thing they read. Once you have written a book with a specific reader in mind and a clear core message, the most important thing to do is just to not give up! Stay persistent and put the time and work into your publishing plan and marketing strategies for selling your book.

If you have been wanting to write a book that will help other people, you need to first decide who exactly you want to write for. What change are you hoping for the reader to make? How do you want them to feel when they read your book? These are all things to consider before getting to the publishing or marketing steps. 

Quotes

• “If you're writing a book that's designed to help someone, you have to know who that someone is.” (8:33-8:37 | AJ)
• “If they can see themselves on the first page where you are honoring their experience and they feel like you get them, they're going to keep turning the page.” (10:38-10:48 | AJ)
• “Knowing your reader is such a huge part of not just writing and editing the book, but how you position it in the marketplace.” (11:50-11:56 | AJ)
• “A book is not about something, it’s for someone.” (12:30-12:33 | AJ) 
• “Most authors give up too soon. They give up before they finish their book, they give up on their publishing plan, because it takes too long. And then if they do manage to get their book to market, they give up on selling it.” (28:42-28:56 | AJ)
• “There's very few things on earth that are more transformational than a book.” (35:18-35:23 | AJ)

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with AJ Harper

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjanetteharper/

Website: https://ajharper.com

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“The human brain makes all kinds of assumptions within seven seconds of seeing someone. And within those seven seconds, 60% of those assessments of if we liked that person, trust that person, want to do business with that person comes from what that person is wearing,” explains Morgan Wider, wardrobe stylist, speaker, podcast host, and author of the best-selling book, The Worthy Wardrobe: Your Guide to Style, Shopping & Soul. Growing up as the only Black girl in her class, as well as being taller and having a deeper voice, led Morgan to use clothing as a way to hide herself. She didn’t want to stand out and worried that if she dressed too feminine people might not take her seriously as a smart woman. Today, Morgan shares tips for creating confident wardrobes that help women feel worthy of being seen.

What you wear is just as important as what you do, especially as an entrepreneur where you are your brand. Every piece of clothing in your wardrobe should make you feel good about yourself. Making an effort to style yourself each day is a way of honoring your body. To get started, decide what your signature look is going to be. Maybe you always wear red or you have a really fun hair color, but make sure you pick something and stay consistent. Investing a few staple pieces that reflect that signature look will help people recognize your brand. 

If your clothes do not make you feel confident, they are not the clothes for you. Rid yourself of anything in your wardrobe that is no longer serving you and replace it with clothing that makes you feel good about yourself. When you put effort into your appearance, you will feel more confident and that will be reflected in how you show up in the world.

Quotes

• “The human brain makes all kinds of assumptions within seven seconds of seeing someone. And within those seven seconds, 60% of those assessments of if we liked that person, trust that person, want to do business with that person comes from what that person is wearing.” (5:26-5:38 | Morgan)
• “We've been taught that what we do is more important, but who we are, and how we honor ourselves, and how we dress is just as important.” (6:26-6:33 | Morgan)
• “It's about making the effort to show up on brand and feel good.” (15:39-15:43 | Morgan)
• “You can't afford to walk into your closet each morning and not feel good about yourself.” (20:30-20:34 | Morgan) 
• “I just want every woman to know she's worthy of being seen.” (31:44-31:47 | Morgan) 

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Morgan Wider:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganwider/

Website: https://morganwider.com/

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“The payday is a lovely part. But don't let that drive how you look for your partner, particularly if you want to leave a legacy worthwhile,” explains Jennifer Fondrevay, founder and Chief Humanity Officer of Day1 Ready™, a consultancy that advises business owners, leaders, and executives on how to prepare for mergers and acquisitions. Jennifer has survived three major multibillion dollar acquisitions and is the author of Now What? A Survivor's Guide for Thriving through Mergers and Acquisitions. Today, she shares her tips for changing the narrative on mergers and acquisitions.

Mergers and acquisitions have a bad reputation, in part because statistics show that 70-90% of deals fail. However, it is important to still see a merger or acquisition as a viable growth strategy. This type of deal is not just about finances, but is really more similar to a marriage in that you really need to be very intentional about who you choose as a partner. It also helps to remember that when considering the valuation of your business, your people contribute value as well. From the very start, you should consider your communication strategy for how you will get your people on board with and even excited for the coming changes, otherwise you risk losing talent due to miscommunication. 

People are typically wary of change and aversive to uncertainty. This is why even just the words ‘mergers and acquisitions’ often cause people to stress and worry for the future. When you are upfront and clear about your vision for the business and communicate the plan with your employees, they are more likely to rally around you and buy into your vision. 

Quotes

• “Consider a merger or an acquisition as a viable growth strategy play.” (2:26-2:31 | Jennifer)
• “The payday is a lovely part. But don't let that drive how you look for your partner, particularly if you want to leave a legacy worthwhile.” (5:05-5:15 | Jennifer)
• “If you're thinking just financials and you haven't thought about, ‘how am I going to explain this in a way that gets people really rallied around it and excited’, you're going to lose some talent.” (7:31-7:41 | Jennifer)
• “People ultimately embrace change and they understand that things have changed, but what they don't like is prolonged uncertainty.” (8:22-8:29 | Jennifer)
• “Start thinking about what that communications piece is when you're thinking about the deal. Don't wait until you’ve made the announcement.” (29:23-29:28 | Jennifer) 
• “Being crystal clear on your value is what helps you to embrace uncertainty.” (38:19-38:24 | Jennifer)

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Jennifer Fondrevay:

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/jennifer-fondrevay

Website: www.Jenniferjfondrevay.com

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“80% of the women owners that we surveyed said it's extremely important to hire and develop other women in their industry,” shares host Kiley Peters, CEO and founder of RAYNE IX. With the help of friend Susan Baier and her team at Audience Audit, Kiley conducted original research on women small business owners and how they defined success for themselves.

When surveying several hundred female small business owners, the data began to show three distinct segments. These segments are the believers, support seekers, and parody perceivers. Depending on which segment they fall into, some women business owners may not actually fall into the same target audience due to mindset differences. The data showed that age and income were not really a factor and that it truly all came down to mindset. The majority of women defined success as owning their own time or schedule and reported that it is very important to them to support other women in their industries. 

The data from this new research study is compelling and shows the differences in how women and men approach business ownership. Women start businesses because they want flexibility, autonomy, and ownership. It’s not that they don’t care about profit, but it typically is not their number one priority. 

Quotes

• “You really need to understand the mindset and the psychological composition of your audience, because it's those things that are really going to matter.” (9:15-9:23 | Kiley)
• “This is all about flexibility, autonomy, and ownership. That's why women are starting their own businesses.” (10:36-10:43 | Kiley)
• “70% of respondents believe that there are inherent differences between the way men and women run businesses.” (13:07-13:15 | Kiley)
• “Small business specifically needs to be personal.” (15:15-15:19 | Kiley)
• “The number one way that women defined success for themselves was owning their own time or schedule.” (17:58-18:03 | Kiley)
• “80% of the women owners that we surveyed said it's extremely important or very important to hire and develop other women in their industry.” (19:54-20:03 | Kiley)

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Kiley

Workshops: https://rayneix.com/workshops/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rayneix/

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“If the goal is for this to be your full-time income, plus potentially the opportunity for you to scale and eventually move away from delivering the service yourself, it requires you to have an in-depth knowledge of what is needed to sustain your life and lifestyle and grow the kind of business that you want to grow,” explains Abagail Pumphrey. Abagail and Emylee are the co-founders and co-CEOs of Boss Project and the hosts of the chart-topping podcast The Strategy Hour. Together they have helped over 10,000 small business owners grow profitable and sustainable businesses. Today, Abagail and Emylee share their tips for scaling a service-based business. 

A service-based business model is one of the most profitable businesses because there is a lot less upfront cost to get started. This model is very accessible to begin with, but owners still need to be very clear on their long-term goals and have strong boundaries in place in order to scale successfully. One common mistake is undercharging for services and essentially doing a bunch of work for free. It’s important to have a good understanding of the numbers and set appropriate rates if the goal is to generate a full-time income. 

In order to successfully run and scale a service-based business, you have to be really clear on what your long-term goals are, not only for the business itself but also for your personal life. Build your business around your desired life, rather than trying to fit in your life around the business. 

Quotes

• “Every time I prioritize holding my boundaries, protecting my creative space, honoring how I want to show up for work and be a leader, and work with my team, every time I prioritize space there and openness and creativeness, we win.” (3:51-4:09 | Emylee)
• “If the goal is for this to be your full-time income, plus potentially the opportunity for you to scale and eventually move away from delivering the service yourself, it requires you to have a in-depth knowledge of what is needed to sustain your life and lifestyle and grow the kind of business that you want to grow.” (10:31-10:53 | Abagail)
• “Service-based business owners don't think of how many consequences come from what you're priced at.” (12:15-12:20 | Emylee)
• “Just cause you're making money doesn't mean you're not working for free.” (14:05-14:07 | Emylee) 
• “If I am really aware of what I want my personal life to look like, then I can design a business around my life.” (25:16-25:24 | Abagail)

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Abagail Pumphrey & Emylee Williams:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bossproject/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thinkcreativecollective/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bossprojecthq/_saved/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/bossprojectchannel

Website: https://bossproject.com

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-strategy-hour-podcast-online-business-blogging/id1186889023

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]

“When you realize that you can have a tremendous emotional, psychological, and intellectual impact on the people in a room through performance, all of a sudden the way that you go about your work changes dramatically,” shares Michael Port, CEO and Co-Founder of Heroic Public Speaking. Today, Michael explains how to build a professional speaking career.

In order to create transformational change in the way people think and act, you first have to change the way they feel. The speakers who are the most successful at this are the ones who are able to perform with honesty. All performances are manufactured in a sense, but that does not mean they cannot be done with honesty in a way that connects with and moves the audience. Being able to combine entertainment with your insights is a great way to keep the audience engaged and get your message across.

A successful transformative speech takes time. You must really commit to the process and spend time practicing and reworking your speech. You cannot just wing it and expect to be a memorable speaker.

Quotes

• “If you want to change what people do, you need to change how they think first. And if you want to change how people think, you need to change how they feel first.” (6:12-6:23 | Michael)
• “The key is that performance is manufactured, but the people who do it the best are the ones who do it with honesty.” (17:33-17:40 | Michael)
• “When you realize that you can have a tremendous emotional, psychological, and intellectual impact on the people in a room through performance, all of a sudden the way that you go about your work changes dramatically.” (19:58-20:17 | Michael)
• “The expectation should be that it may take a year to produce a speech that is ready to be sold for $25,000.” (26:25-26:34 | Michael)
• “Usually things that create significant change require the person who created that thing also change.” (28:14-28:20 | Michael) 

Links

Connect with Welcome to Eloma

Instagram: @welcometoeloma

Website: WelcometoEloma.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail 

Connect with Michael Port

Website: www.heroicpublicspeaking.com

Instagram: @heroicpublicspeaking

Connect with Kiley

Social: @kileypeters + Linkedin.com/in/kileypeters

Websites: RAYNEIX.com , BrainchildStudios.com, KileyPeters.com

Weekly Email Newsletter: bit.ly/RIXEmail

Email: [email protected]