I was introduced to the book Traction by my husband. We both love entrepreneurship and I get a lot of really great resources from him. And a few years back, he said, "Nance, you would really love this thing called the Entrepreneurial Operating System." I was like, "What are you talking about?" And he was like, "It was introduced to me. It's this book called Traction. It's really pretty incredible, and I think Nancy Ray Photography could really benefit from it." I was kind of like, "It sounds weird. Sure, I'll learn about it. But yeah—I'm good. I'm pretty sure I got this."

Well, he introduces me to this book, Traction, and starts telling me all about what the Entrepreneurial Operating System is, also known as EOS. And as he starts to explain it, all the different components, how everything is organized and laid out, I'm like a sponge. I'm like, "Are you serious? This is answering so many questions that I've had about how to better run my meetings or organize people in my business." It put words to a lot of things that I didn't have words for. 

It's very, very thorough, but it's not rocket science. It's not spreadsheets, and numbers, and things that I feel like are challenging in business. It's just basically this very simple structure of how to lay out and run your business. So if you can kind of get a visual in your head with me, picture a wheel, and it's divided like pizza slicer, right into six different pizza slices. This wheel, at the very center of it is the EOS model, which is your business. Your business is at the center of the wheel. EOS model is that the six parts are divided up and you have to really understand, know, work on all six components of your business well in order to have a healthy business. But once you get all six of those really addressed, running smoothly, your business will be in like the top 5% of businesses. It will run smoothly. It will flow. You'll know where you're going. You'll have clarity. You'll have decision making. You will have a track to run on. And I have found this to be so true. 

So in today’s episode, I’m going to jump into the six pizza slices, if you will, the six categories of your business according to Traction or the Entrepreneurial Operating System. 

For the full transcript, head to this episode's show notes!

The Work & Play Cornerstore

C12

Affiliate links have been used in this post!

I was introduced to the book Traction by my husband. We both love entrepreneurship and I get a lot of really great resources from him. And a few years back, he said, "Nance, you would really love this thing called the Entrepreneurial Operating System." I was like, "What are you talking about?" And he was like, "It was introduced to me. It's this book called Traction. It's really pretty incredible, and I think Nancy Ray Photography could really benefit from it." I was kind of like, "It sounds weird. Sure, I'll learn about it. But yeah—I'm good. I'm pretty sure I got this."

Well, he introduces me to this book, Traction, and starts telling me all about what the Entrepreneurial Operating System is, also known as EOS. And as he starts to explain it, all the different components, how everything is organized and laid out, I'm like a sponge. I'm like, "Are you serious? This is answering so many questions that I've had about how to better run my meetings or organize people in my business." It put words to a lot of things that I didn't have words for. 

It's very, very thorough, but it's not rocket science. It's not spreadsheets, and numbers, and things that I feel like are challenging in business. It's just basically this very simple structure of how to lay out and run your business. So if you can kind of get a visual in your head with me, picture a wheel, and it's divided like pizza slicer, right into six different pizza slices. This wheel, at the very center of it is the EOS model, which is your business. Your business is at the center of the wheel. EOS model is that the six parts are divided up and you have to really understand, know, work on all six components of your business well in order to have a healthy business. But once you get all six of those really addressed, running smoothly, your business will be in like the top 5% of businesses. It will run smoothly. It will flow. You'll know where you're going. You'll have clarity. You'll have decision making. You will have a track to run on. And I have found this to be so true. 

So in today’s episode, I’m going to jump into the six pizza slices, if you will, the six categories of your business according to Traction or the Entrepreneurial Operating System. 

For the full transcript, head to this episode's show notes!

The Work & Play Cornerstore

C12

Affiliate links have been used in this post!

I'm going to be the first one to say I love to work. It's a blessing and a curse. I can kind of be a workaholic sometimes. But truly, at the end of every day, I love the feeling that I gave it my all, checking off my list, being on my game, seeing my inbox dwindled to zero, sending completed projects to clients. I love it. I love the fulfillment that work brings, and God made us to work.

I believe that work is good and it feels good to know that you've done a job well at the end of your day. But, I also love to rest. I love to have a complete day of rest with no work, no thoughts of clients or emails, no stress, no obligation. I love to just get outside with my family. Love to go on hikes. I love just to spend as long as I want somewhere without feeling like there's a timeframe or deadline that I have to meet. Yeah, I love it when there's no deadline. I love when I can just be somewhere as long as I need to be. I love praying. I love connecting with the Lord. I love having a movie night complete with pizza, my husband, my crazy, messy kids. I need that rest. We all crave it. We need it regularly. We all do.

But for some reason this Sabbath rest, this weekly rhythm of just stopping all work has been lost.

Today, I'm going to give you a little history lesson on what exactly happened, how we got to where we are today, why I believe that we lost it, and how important it is for us to embrace the Sabbath as a very real rhythm of our lives.

For the full transcript, head here.

Start small in crafting rhythms & routines in your life with my FREE GUIDE: Craft a Morning Routine for increased Joy, Energy & Productivity!

Work & Play Cornerstore

Exodus 20, Exodus 31, Acts 20:7

I'm going to be the first one to say I love to work. It's a blessing and a curse. I can kind of be a workaholic sometimes. But truly, at the end of every day, I love the feeling that I gave it my all, checking off my list, being on my game, seeing my inbox dwindled to zero, sending completed projects to clients. I love it. I love the fulfillment that work brings, and God made us to work.

I believe that work is good and it feels good to know that you've done a job well at the end of your day. But, I also love to rest. I love to have a complete day of rest with no work, no thoughts of clients or emails, no stress, no obligation. I love to just get outside with my family. Love to go on hikes. I love just to spend as long as I want somewhere without feeling like there's a timeframe or deadline that I have to meet. Yeah, I love it when there's no deadline. I love when I can just be somewhere as long as I need to be. I love praying. I love connecting with the Lord. I love having a movie night complete with pizza, my husband, my crazy, messy kids. I need that rest. We all crave it. We need it regularly. We all do.

But for some reason this Sabbath rest, this weekly rhythm of just stopping all work has been lost.

Today, I'm going to give you a little history lesson on what exactly happened, how we got to where we are today, why I believe that we lost it, and how important it is for us to embrace the Sabbath as a very real rhythm of our lives.

For the full transcript, head here.

Start small in crafting rhythms & routines in your life with my FREE GUIDE: Craft a Morning Routine for increased Joy, Energy & Productivity!

Work & Play Cornerstore

Exodus 20, Exodus 31, Acts 20:7

Now, I truly believe that leadership is a learned skill. I believe that about parenting, too. I believe it about playing the piano, about doing your hair. You have to learn these skills to be good at them, and guess what? If you have influence, you are a leader, right where you are. If you can speak into someone else's life, if you are just a little more advanced than they are in some area, you are a leader. We all find ourselves in leadership positions at some point or another, but it's up to us to see ourselves as leaders and to grow as leaders.

Today, I'm going to share five ways that you can become a leader that people want to follow. They are simple but they've been incredibly helpful to me, and I think they'll be helpful to you, too.

This is also the first episode in which I introduce the Work & Play Cornerstore! It's where I plan to have a little bit of fun and will mostly draw from my personal life and experiences to bring you one book that I'm loving or that I've read, and one thing that I'm loving, and that's it. It might be completely random, funny, serious. The only rule that I want to stick by is that it's something that I personally use or recommend that will make your life better. I'll get a tiny commission from anything bought through these links, which help me to continue to bring this podcast to you every week. Plus, it'll just be plain fun, so I think it's going to be a win-win. So stay tuned to the Work & Play Cornerstore at the end of every episode.

For the full transcript, click here.

The Work & Play Cornerstore

Foundations in Team Building: A Blueprint for the Creative Entrepreneur

FREE Team Resource Vault

Traction, by Gino Wickman

Tribes, by Seth Godin

How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber

Crucial Conversations, by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler

Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

Rocket Fuel, by Gino Wickman

Getting Naked, by Patrick Lencioni

Who Moved My Cheese?, by Dr. Spencer Johnson

The Global Leadership Summit

Now, I truly believe that leadership is a learned skill. I believe that about parenting, too. I believe it about playing the piano, about doing your hair. You have to learn these skills to be good at them, and guess what? If you have influence, you are a leader, right where you are. If you can speak into someone else's life, if you are just a little more advanced than they are in some area, you are a leader. We all find ourselves in leadership positions at some point or another, but it's up to us to see ourselves as leaders and to grow as leaders.

Today, I'm going to share five ways that you can become a leader that people want to follow. They are simple but they've been incredibly helpful to me, and I think they'll be helpful to you, too.

This is also the first episode in which I introduce the Work & Play Cornerstore! It's where I plan to have a little bit of fun and will mostly draw from my personal life and experiences to bring you one book that I'm loving or that I've read, and one thing that I'm loving, and that's it. It might be completely random, funny, serious. The only rule that I want to stick by is that it's something that I personally use or recommend that will make your life better. I'll get a tiny commission from anything bought through these links, which help me to continue to bring this podcast to you every week. Plus, it'll just be plain fun, so I think it's going to be a win-win. So stay tuned to the Work & Play Cornerstore at the end of every episode.

For the full transcript, click here.

The Work & Play Cornerstore

Foundations in Team Building: A Blueprint for the Creative Entrepreneur

FREE Team Resource Vault

Traction, by Gino Wickman

Tribes, by Seth Godin

How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber

Crucial Conversations, by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler

Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

Rocket Fuel, by Gino Wickman

Getting Naked, by Patrick Lencioni

Who Moved My Cheese?, by Dr. Spencer Johnson

The Global Leadership Summit

For the longest time I was really afraid of becoming a mom. I thought that I should have these longings to be a mother or I really should want to have a baby, but I never did. I was really happy with my marriage and my life before babies. I loved my work, and I was really fearful of what it would do to my life, my body, my sleep, a lot of different things. I remember having a conversation with my friend, Katelyn, about this and was nervous saying it out loud. She looked at me and was like, "Me, too. Me, too. That's crazy. I haven't heard anybody else say that before." We connected on that level because we felt weird or alone or like we were the exception to the rule in women. 

Today I am going to interview Katelyn on the podcast. If you follow me or Katelyn, you know that both of us are mothers to three children. I have three young children. She also has three children, one of which is in heaven. The conversation that we have, our hope as we have this conversation, is that you, if you're in the same boat ... if you're afraid of becoming a mom or aren't ready and don't know if you ever will be ... is that our conversation would hopefully make you feel a little bit more normal and not alone.

For the full transcript, click here! 

Hi, my name is Katelyn James and I'm a wedding photographer who also teaches others how to be purposeful and profitable wedding photographers. I'm a momma of three.... Evy is two, Graham is three months and Baby James is our sweet boy in heaven that we said goodbye to at 31 weeks. I love the Lord, my family, home decorating and traveling! My life has transitioned so much in the last three years. While I love my business that I have run for over a decade, I'm really loving sharing my time with my role as a momma!

KJ All-Access

Follow Katelyn on Instagram

For the longest time I was really afraid of becoming a mom. I thought that I should have these longings to be a mother or I really should want to have a baby, but I never did. I was really happy with my marriage and my life before babies. I loved my work, and I was really fearful of what it would do to my life, my body, my sleep, a lot of different things. I remember having a conversation with my friend, Katelyn, about this and was nervous saying it out loud. She looked at me and was like, "Me, too. Me, too. That's crazy. I haven't heard anybody else say that before." We connected on that level because we felt weird or alone or like we were the exception to the rule in women. 

Today I am going to interview Katelyn on the podcast. If you follow me or Katelyn, you know that both of us are mothers to three children. I have three young children. She also has three children, one of which is in heaven. The conversation that we have, our hope as we have this conversation, is that you, if you're in the same boat ... if you're afraid of becoming a mom or aren't ready and don't know if you ever will be ... is that our conversation would hopefully make you feel a little bit more normal and not alone.

For the full transcript, click here! 

Hi, my name is Katelyn James and I'm a wedding photographer who also teaches others how to be purposeful and profitable wedding photographers. I'm a momma of three.... Evy is two, Graham is three months and Baby James is our sweet boy in heaven that we said goodbye to at 31 weeks. I love the Lord, my family, home decorating and traveling! My life has transitioned so much in the last three years. While I love my business that I have run for over a decade, I'm really loving sharing my time with my role as a momma!

KJ All-Access

Follow Katelyn on Instagram

You know what's pretty much the worst job in the world? Having to fire somebody. You know what's even worse than that? Keeping somebody on your team that needs to be let go, but you feel so bad, you don't want to have that conversation. You'd rather just keep them around and deal with it. Then eventually you have the conversation and it's just a big mess. You know what could solve all of this? Hiring the right person the first time. 

Now, I'm not perfect by any stretch, but I decided way before ever building my team that I wanted to get one thing right, hiring. Today, I'm going to tell you everything that I've learned in my research and in my experience in hopes that you too can hire the right person the first time.

I'm going to take you through 10 things that I do when we hire someone new. Some of these are big picture things. They're foundational things that you have to do before you ever even conduct an interview, and then we'll talk about the interview process, and then we're going to end with the whole on-boarding process and how to keep really good people.

For the full transcript, click here!

Grow Your Business & Get Your Life Back >> FREE CLASS

Get all of our FREE team resources!

Traction, by Gino Wickman

The Ideal Team Player, Patrick Lencioni

Episode 021 - Hiring, Part I: 5 Ways to Know You’re Ready

**Affiliate links have been used in this post!!

You know what's pretty much the worst job in the world? Having to fire somebody. You know what's even worse than that? Keeping somebody on your team that needs to be let go, but you feel so bad, you don't want to have that conversation. You'd rather just keep them around and deal with it. Then eventually you have the conversation and it's just a big mess. You know what could solve all of this? Hiring the right person the first time. 

Now, I'm not perfect by any stretch, but I decided way before ever building my team that I wanted to get one thing right, hiring. Today, I'm going to tell you everything that I've learned in my research and in my experience in hopes that you too can hire the right person the first time.

I'm going to take you through 10 things that I do when we hire someone new. Some of these are big picture things. They're foundational things that you have to do before you ever even conduct an interview, and then we'll talk about the interview process, and then we're going to end with the whole on-boarding process and how to keep really good people.

For the full transcript, click here!

Grow Your Business & Get Your Life Back >> FREE CLASS

Get all of our FREE team resources!

Traction, by Gino Wickman

The Ideal Team Player, Patrick Lencioni

Episode 021 - Hiring, Part I: 5 Ways to Know You’re Ready

**Affiliate links have been used in this post!!