Akua: Now, there’s only one word to describe today’s episode on the independent business podcast. And that is powerful. Now, if you don’t know who Jasmine Starr is, I guarantee you are going to love her after you listen to this episode. She is a business strategist and CEO of Social Curator, social media marketing company.

And we sat down for an honest and real conversation about entrepreneurship. Jasmine shares with us her business journey from where she started to the major lessons she’s learned and how she deals with imposter syndrome. As business owners, we all experience fear and self doubt and Jasmine reminds us that no matter what obstacle you are facing to keep showing up, do the work and move forward.

This episode was such a gift for me and I know it will be for you too. So let’s get into it. Hey everyone, this is your host Akua Kanadu and you’re listening to the Independent Business Podcast. More people than ever are working for themselves and building profitable businesses in the process. So on this show, I get to sit down with some of the most influential authors, entrepreneurs, and creators to break down the science of self made success so that you can achieve it too.

Hello, Jasmine. How are we doing today? 

Jasmine: I’m doing fantastic. I am very excited for this conversation. 

Akua: Oh, I’m so, so excited to have you here. As I mentioned earlier, I am part of your YBLE course, which has been just so phenomenal. And honestly, just learning more about you through that whole process. I’m like, you really do champion Independent business owners.

So I was like, who better to come on the show and have a real honest conversation about entrepreneurship. And we’re just like, we don’t know where this conversation is going to go. I mean, I want to definitely know like the path that you’ve been on, the lessons that you’ve learned, but I’m excited for you to be here.

So thank you. 

Jasmine: Thank you. You know, when we, when we launched your biggest launch ever, we knew we were attracting a different type of person that’s been in my orbit. Now I am, I’ve the privilege of having a business and speaking and doing podcasts, but the type of person that I get a front row to work with.

We knew when we created this offer was going to be different. And so being able to meet and talk with you, it feels like such an immense moment of gratitude because it’s proof that when you get to work with people who you’re inspired by, you’re like, Oh, it worked. Like the messaging is working and the offer is working.

So us having this conversation, yes, we’re going to serve well, but I just wanted to take a minute and start with an immense moment of gratitude for saying, thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey. And thank you for giving me a front row seat to, as you just build like a massive business. So thank you.

Akua: Well, thank you because I mean, the content is packed. It’s just so helpful. And just seeing the communities that’s being built in it is truly, truly amazing. And so, you know, you have launched, you have launched so many amazing offers, but I want to go back to that. I really want to know who Jasmine Star is, like, where you started, To where you are now.

Jasmine: Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things like right before you push record, you had said that one of the things that you’re good at or interested in is like when you get people to spill the tea. And so it’s like getting people comfortable talking about things that are uncomfortable. I’m like, great, let’s do that in this conversation.

Like, yes, we could start with my origin story. I’m going to give it a little bit short so that we can get into other things that you want to impact this or people. Well, but yes, starting with the foundation is very helpful so that people can understand why I’m so passionate. Or as my mom likes to say, like lovingly stubborn about my point of view.

Um, you know, I dropped out of law school when my mom had a relapse with brain cancer and it really forced me to reconcile what I wanted to do with my life. And so I had a dream of becoming a photographer and I didn’t own a camera. And so I was gifted a camera from my husband. We had just gotten married and I said, I dropped out of law school.

I’ll go back to law school if this thing doesn’t work out. I started my business within the first year and made 100, 000. And I think that some people could hear that and be like, okay, wow, that’s cool. But I think it was a lot cooler for me because I actually wasn’t all that talented. And the fact that I knew that I would be able to create relationships and tell stories and offer a level of service that would allow me to compete in a very competitive space, I realized like, Oh, this is the new way of doing business.

It’s no longer the person with the most talent or the most money. Or the most education who wins? It is the person because right around this time of me starting a business, this is like the onset of the internet. This is the onset of social media. This is the way that people started learning how to sell and consume differently.

And so I was in a position to be at the front edge of that. And I was like, I have nothing to lose. I also have no money. So I’m gonna use this free thing. That’s. You know, call social media and let me see how it works. And so I was able to storytell, I was able to build relationships with clients and then they ended up advocating on my behalf.

And instead of me trying to do the traditional route of building a business, I just turned to my clients and they were the people who started promoting me. And so other people in my space, creative, specifically photographers, videographers, you know, wedding coordinators, they’re like, how are you, how are you doing this?

And I just started teaching people like what I was doing. I was teaching how I was marketing my business. And. That slowly led into me creating digital resources. And so I had this shop and I was selling things for like 2 and 99 cents. And I was like, Oh my God, I’m rich. Like the fact that people wouldn’t spend like five 99.

And then you wake up in the morning and you see notifications. And I’m like, I, I am quite literally making money when I sleep. It was like for, you know, this Brown girl, daughter of an immigrant. It was like, my life had. Totally changed. And so then I started creating additional resources like courses. I then realized that people wanted ongoing community and ongoing education.

And so I created a membership. And then on the back of the membership, I realized that there was like a lot of friction between learning marketing information to applying marketing information. So in 2021, launched a tech stack for social curator where we became a A bonafide SAS offering. So we now integrate with the largest social platforms.

And so, you know, there’s a story of a girl who got a camera from Best Buy and is now a CEO of a tech company. And I get to create podcasts. I get to have conversations. I get to teach other business owners, the art of growing a business. And that brings us here today. 

Akua: Oh my gosh, that is just absolutely amazing just to hear so many pieces of your journey.

And even as I hear yours, I can absolutely relate to certain things as well. Like I am first generation immigrant. My family immigrated from Ghana as well. And you already know where you feel that pressure that you either have to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer like 

Jasmine: that. I will tell you, like folks that come from Nigeria and Ghana, like their kids have, they have, okay.

They have, they have these options. And like, when you’re coming from Mexico, it’s like, You’re going to inherit your father’s like, or you’re going to become like, a, like, I don’t, I don’t know. It was very blue color. Like our options were just like, just pay rent, you know, like you’re going to live with us because Latinos, we all, we all live with each other until we get married or sometimes we just continue living with each other after we get married.

So it was just like, just hold your own. So you had a much higher standard. I will say that I’ll just call it out for what it is. 

Akua: I love that so much. But either way, I think it just gives you such a different perspective. Um, and you move so differently in your business. But one thing that I loved about you was that you said earlier that I didn’t have the most, I wasn’t the most talented, but what you did was that you leaned into the gifts.

You leaned into what you currently had in that season to build the next thing. And then you utilize that to build the next thing. And so something that I’m really curious about to know is, What were some of the struggles that you were experiencing within that? Cause like, it’s not an easy thing to do.

And I think when we hear the stories, we’re like, Oh yeah, like. This is great. But like down to the nitty gritty, like these uncomfortable pieces of that, what was that like for you building these, these offers, you know, especially if things didn’t work out, especially if you, uh, failed, what, like, what was that process like for you?

Jasmine: You know, I think that it seems about, it seems about like in my timing and in my cadence, Every six years, I start shifting and I heard Kobe Bryant describe it the best. And he had said that he got to a point in his career where the game moved slow and it wasn’t that the game got boring and it wasn’t that he got good.

It was that the game moved slow. He understood the game. He could anticipate where the ball was going. He could anticipate where he should stand to get the rebound. He can anticipate if he knew his three pointer or his free throw was going in. He understood it was such a deep complexity that it allowed him to play at a different speed.

And that’s not always a good thing. And so what I realized every six years, somehow the game slows down and I love learning and I love being challenged. And I started realizing that every time that, you know, I tell my origin story and it sounds like I can get it down in 30 seconds, right? I got the sting.

I got the, this and I got that. And I moved here and people were like, Whoa, you did a lot in a short amount of time. And I think that really what it comes back down to is how When you know that there is a different calling on your life, a different level to play the game, it’s going to require you to give up a former sense of your identity and embody something new.

And there’s two main things at play is that you have to give up something in order to gain something else. And there are many times that it, feels like you’re starting from scratch. It feels like you’re at square one. But the thing that I have realized now, looking back at all those times where I wanted to pity myself for starting over or say, it’s really ridiculous that I’m going to be walking away from a very lucrative photography career to start something else is that we look at square one and it’s almost like we have this like tut tut to it.

Like, I don’t need that. Like I am like the English say, I’m going to suck my teeth at it. Like, Oh, and so we look back at these things and I would always look at square one as if square one applied to everybody the same way all the same time. But now I realize that we will never get the same square one again because every journey, every pitfall, every success, every peak and every valley, we’ve learned something and we’ve become a different person.

So even if we go back to square one, we are starting something else entirely. Due to the mistakes we made due to the successes that we had. And so when we start over, the pivot is always the hardest because you have to let go. And the pivot is always the hardest because it feels like you’re now an amateur when you were so used to building your life and career as a professional.

Those are two of the hardest things that I continuously, even in the midst of pivoting myself, you go back to that and you realize, man, This is, this is the stuff that many people don’t talk about and this is the stuff that many people don’t do because it requires us to feel a level of unsafety, a level of unpredictability and a level of sacrifice that if you got used to things looking a very certain way in your life and you want change, it requires change and when it requires change, it requires risk and whenever we risk something, we want to immediately want to like hedge our bets and keep what we have safe, but dwelling in safety doesn’t change.

Allow us to grow and I think that there’s a lot there to be said, but I just want to have that real conversation around what it means right now as we have changed and pivoted. 

Akua: Oh my gosh. Yes. Dwelling in safety does not allow you to grow. I mean, number one, you taking us to church today. I mean, that’s facts because like this is just all that is so key.

And I loved to what you said earlier of you have to let go of something in order to gain something bigger. And do you feel like. As you went into every, like, every six years, and, you know, you’re starting something new, what was that shedding process like for you? You know what I mean? Where, because I feel like, Even if you were going into something that you know is going to be amazing, there’s still grief in what was, if that makes sense.

Jasmine: Oh yeah. I mean, a hundred percent and totally. And I think that I was working with my therapist and she had said that oftentimes it’s really exciting. New things are exciting. Spring is exciting. A new bud is exciting. A Caterpillar emerging from a chrysalis is exciting. We have ideas of the butterfly. And.

There comes a lot of times in our lives and in our careers where we actually don’t take time to express gratitude and a personification of what that journey was. And so she had invited me to look and talk to different versions of my business. And they’re still many of them are still in motion, but I had to speak to them almost like a release.

So, for instance, I am active CEO of Social Curator. We have a team. We have a very thriving community. I love what I do there. I do coaching. We create content. But she said, I need to invite you to express gratitude as if it is no longer there because we need to create space for what is. And so she’s like, you can talk to Social Curator like it’s a person and you could say, Thank you.

Thank you for what you have done. And girl, I have to tell you that thing wrecked me because I didn’t do it in that like, so I just kind of like journaled and I wrote to social curator like she was a real thing. And I was like, you gave us everything. You gave me my house. You gave me my daughter. You’ve given us the best vacations around.

You’ve given me this retirement fund that blows my mind. You’ve given us the chance for this brown girl to learn investing. I now understand what a 401k is. Social curator. Thank you for putting food on my table. Social curator. Thank you for showing my pot, like my family, what’s possible. Thank you. Social curator for changing future legacies.

Like I spoke to her and I was like, at the end of it, I was like, Oh my God. And I’m, and I’m still in it. How beautiful, but it was a way to create emotional distinction of thank you. And more. And I need it just as like, I need to create space for more. And I felt like doing that exercise was so transformative.

And I felt like, Oh, I can love you and I can love this and still find time to create. And I think that that was like the first big step for me to do it. 

Akua: Oh, my gosh. Even hearing you talk about that. I’m not gonna lie to you. My eyes were watering because number one, I think so many business owners, right?

We’re constantly on this hamster wheel and you know, we wear so many multiple hats and we’re just constantly going, going, going. And then once we finally hit what we wanted to hit, we’re looking for the next thing. But to go back and actually look at that journey and especially like you have to let go in order to create more and talk like talking to Social Security as a person.

That is just. Phenomenal. But like, literally, because then you think about it of everything that social security has done for you. And I think of myself right now as I’m in a journey where my capacity is changing with all the change that I’ve experienced, especially in the last six months, seven months.

There are certain parts of me that I’ve had to let go. And a part of me felt guilty of feeling that way of like, I’m so excited for these opportunities that lie ahead, but I miss that. And I know I’m, I’m, I’m currently in my own shedding season and my eyes are, you want to just talk about it because it’s, it’s hard, it’s not easy, but you know, just leaning into that of this opportunity of where I’m at now, exactly.

I’m able to create more of a life that I love to live. I get to be able to connect with so many amazing business owners like yourself who are impacting others and showing up. And it’s truly such a gift. And I think, again, it’s a reminder that our business is a gift and how can we lean into it more? And so I.

Just love that. And so another question I’m really curious about is, you know, I saw this on social media too, which I love that because you had this like fairness framework, which I found so interesting. So as you’re even in, you know, mindset is everything as a business owner and things. There’s so many.

There’s so many disappointments. The things just don’t go our way, especially when we have an expectation in our mind. And you had this framework and for, I literally wrote it down myself. Cause I need to start doing this. Can you just share a little bit about what that is and, and how do you do that in your everyday, especially as you’re in these major seasons of transition?

Jasmine: It’s so funny because I’ve done a lot of work as a person, like in personal development and, um, I, in my family, for better or for worse, we had never even understood what like therapy was. We didn’t understand what like life coaching was. It was just, that was just not even in our orbit or in our sphere.

And so as an adult, I became a business owner and I realized that in order for me, for, in order for my business to grow, in order for me to continue to scale, I needed to scale. I needed to grow. So I started pursuing ways and ventures of self understanding and discovery. And one of those things was being the eldest of five children in a Latino family.

My parents did their absolute best. We did not have money. We didn’t have a lot of, um, we had experiences rich in love, not experiences traditionally that people might look at like a vacation or a trip or a lot of gifts. And so in my mind, subconsciously, I had built this drive for fairness. Things had to be fair in my adult life because things weren’t necessarily fair in my childhood being the eldest I took a lot of responsibility for my siblings and I think that Consciously and subconsciously I shielded them from a lot So that when I became an adult when I graduated college and I got married and I was able to look at my own life I was then able to assess that that is the behavior that I took as my identity and then I started realizing Oh, I want things to be fair when in life You They are anything but that and I started realizing that the older I got and I had the same group of friends since I was 13 years old and as we’ve grown up, a lot of different things have happened to us and that when we look at an event and we say it’s not fair because things hardly ever are, sometimes the unfairness stops many of us.

And it keeps us truncated and stuck in that spot. And some of us have taken an unfair situation and accepted it as part of our story, journey and acclimation to a new level. And so now even further years down the line, I being on the inside as a creator, we have helped more than 40, 000 business owners in their business.

And I started realizing a very distinct pattern is that when something’s not fair, no people don’t normally wake up and say, Today is not fair, but they say, Oh, well, he has that. She has this, he has access to that. She got that. Therefore I can’t. So this, a level of fairness, and if it’s not fair, then they just don’t pursue it anymore.

And I think to myself that the business owners who are actually excelling are the people who are accepting things and regardless if they’re fair or not. And this goes back to the fairness flow chart. I’m going to save the surprise at the end for the fairness flow chart, but let me just start off by saying.

The answer is the same. If it’s fair or not. Or not, our objective is the same if it’s fair or not. And so there is this thing is like whenever something happens to me and have a visceral reaction, I ask myself first and foremost, like, could I control it? Could I control it? And if the answer is yes, I could have controlled it.

Then I moved down, then can I change it? And then I moved down to the final thing. So let’s work this through. Let, let’s just say, was it fair? Was it fair that I didn’t book the client? Well, could I control it? Well, maybe I didn’t respond to emails in time. Maybe I showed up late for a meeting. Maybe I was non communicative.

Well, then can I change it? The answer is yes. As a business owner, you can always find ways to get better. And if I can then change it, then my action is to keep moving forward. Now, there are situations that happen in life and specifically in business that aren’t fair. So I asked myself, is it fair? No. Can I control it?

Well, sometimes I can’t sometimes because of my gender or the color of my skin or the lack of an Ivy league education or the fact that I don’t have an MBA or the fact that I could not get a bank loan. The fact that less than 2 percent of women are getting funding. The fact that less than 0. 6 percent of women of color are getting outside capital for funding or business.

That’s not fair. Can I change it? No. So then what then not do I do? I keep moving forward. If I can control whether or not something is fair or not, doesn’t matter because in either of those situations, if we are to grow in this end, we have to keep moving forward. And I think it’s important for me to assess and just give weight.

Hey, I’m sorry that that wasn’t fair. That really sucks. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing else you do. You keep moving forward. And I think that that was the framework that I had posted out on social media, because that has really helped me a lot. Like it’s okay. Acknowledge it. Acknowledge it. It’s not fair, but guess what?

You have no other option, baby. Keep moving forward. 

Akua: Exactly. Oh my gosh. And that, when I saw that, I was like, I need that. But I just think about that with what you said of there were certain childhood experiences that shaped and molded you and the way that you viewed things in the world. And that totally also leans into how you run your business.

And so I think sometimes we forget of like, We are, we are part of, it’s literally, it’s, it’s one in the same. So what are you doing introspectively? What are you leaning into? How are you healing specific things? Um, doing the work to be able to then run a more successful business. And so that’s what I love about that piece.

And then just the fairness, because I’m exactly the same way, like literally in my mind, I, I’m still working on that where, you know, If something is done in my business that, especially just being a woman of color and the barriers that we face, it leads to having certain types of resentment. And yes, of course I still move forward, but there’s been times where I’m just like, Oh, you know what I mean?

I just get so angry. And it just, that when I saw that framework, it just let, I felt, I just felt like I had permission. You know what I mean? Where it just felt like just be where I could let go. And no matter what the circumstances are, there’s a lot of things in business that we just can’t control. So it’s like, was it fair?

No. It. But acknowledging that and like, okay, that wasn’t fair, but give yourself the gift of honesty. Speak truth over yourself of what the reality of the situation is and utilize that to, to propel you forward to keep going, keep holding your head up high and doing the best that you can. So that’s why I love that framework.

And I’m glad, and I hope that if you’re listening to that, you feel that permission as well. Um, that yes, business is hard and it isn’t fair. There’s going to be aspects where it’s not fair, but then just keep moving forward. I want to actually, we talk about this 

Jasmine: and yes, it sounds good. It sounds warm and.

Buzzy, like it’s not fair. And we’re like, okay, but let’s actually extrapolate kind of like a tertiary, like idea that’s happening here. So oftentimes we as business owners will create content. We create a point of view or we share something we know, and we deal with our best intentions and we put it out and we really hope that it impacts empowers and, you know, Hopefully it’s engaging.

Oh, how we love the likes and the photo of the, the likes, the comments, and the saves. We like that. That dopamine quality makes us feel like we can keep on doing this. And I have to like peel back and say that I shared the fairness framework video and it didn’t do well, well being air quotes in comparison to the other content that I had posted.

But I think it’s really important for us because I had no idea that we would have this podcast conversation around something that I had put out. And it was like, Oh, and you have that temptation of being like, Ooh, that really dragged down the average. You know, it’s like you, you struggle with that. And you’re like, okay, maybe I, maybe I’m not going to be sharing these prayers, like I’m not going to be sharing these learnings because they just not pop in.

I had no idea that it would impact like a person who now, like. Number one is like a rad human being who’s putting out amazing things into the world and speaking up on behalf of people who maybe don’t feel strong enough in their voice. I had no idea that that Baroness framework was going to be empowering somebody who had invested in my business.

I had no idea that we would be sharing a framework now with this audience. And so as we put out content as a reminder to anybody who’s listening, you have no freaking clue what your content is doing, even if it’s one of the worst performing things on your feed, um, in your, um, profile. And so I just wanted to express a little bit of like a moment of gratitude and encouragement for other people who are like, Oh, I’m putting it out and it’s not really going anywhere.

I had no idea. So thank you. 

Akua: Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. And I’m not like looking when I was looking at I was definitely not looking at like, Oh, this was the most like in this and that I just remember going through and of course, all of your content was really valuable. But I remember I just saw that and I was like, I flippin need that.

Jasmine: And I need that today. That’s great. I 

Akua: love that. I love it. But yeah, no, I love that. I think it’s a good reminder that you just again, to your point, you just never know when what people are going to see your continent and what they’re And how people are going to be impacting, impacted by it. But, you know, I want to talk about imposter syndrome because I think that’s something that all of us as business owners, we struggle with, I mean, especially when you’re in new seasons of being uncomfortable and you’re being stretched and pulled in multiple ways.

And I’m just so curious to know with you, um, Especially as you have like listed, we’re so easy to essentially be like, well, I don’t have all of these different types of things and instantly think that we’re not qualified. But I think you’re just such a beautiful testament to that of like, you have leaned in no matter what.

And so I would love to know how you exactly deal with imposter syndrome as you go into these new business ventures, essentially. 

Jasmine: You know, I kind of feel, I don’t, Number one, thank you for asking that question, because I think what you do with people who are listening is that you’re implying that I have somehow like figured it out and I can’t tell if I am completely different.

Um, You’re really dumb or really strong. I don’t know. I, I don’t know. I think that there is a self awareness of me to know that I don’t wake up in the morning and think, Oh, I’m going to go play for the NBA or the WNBA. You know, like, you know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna go win Wimbledon. I’m not delusional enough so that if something comes in my mind or in my heart, it wouldn’t have been placed there.

If deep down, I didn’t believe that I had the capacity to succeed at that thing. Many people receive a similar message, a similar knowing, a similar desire that what that thing you’re longing to do, like open that Etsy shop or apply to become the CMO or become a content creator or start a podcast. You would not have been given that deep longing and desire.

If you didn’t deep down believe you had the capacity to achieve it. But then here comes the very first hurdle of many is there is a knowing and a longing and adhering to that requires a discipline to fulfill on the work required for you to get the thing that you want in many times, we even lack the discipline or the consistency to do those things.

Now, I am, I am one thing. I am one thing. I am not smart. I’m not fast. I’m not the best. I am not even all that cute. I ain’t got that much written. I’m all, well, I’m Puerto Rican. It’s like a shame, but I know that I can be consistent. And so that alone, that alone gets me over the first hurdle, which is that is like 90 percent of the thing that stops people.

People like, okay, I want to do my Etsy shop. I’m going to do my podcast. And do you know that 90 percent of podcasts ever published in the history of all podcasts, publishing 90 percent do not get past episode 10. 

Akua: Wow, 

Jasmine: so. If you just want to be part of the 10%, just do the 11th episode. And so, you know, that has never been all that much of a struggle.

It’s just like, if I’m going to say I’m going to do it, then I’m just going to do it. And I’m just going to do it and I’m just going to do it. Okay. But then we get into like the, the second realm of like imposter syndrome. And that’s just kind of like, you know, Can I figure it out? Can I figure it out? And I’ve never gone into the game.

Like I have never, I didn’t start a sass company to be like, I’m gonna be the best, most profitable sass to ever exist. I’m a blow everybody’s mind and I’m going to be a 2 billion exiting founder. I didn’t. I just said, I think I could, I think I could figure it out. Or I think I could hire people to help me figure it out.

That’s just been it. And so I think to myself often when imposter syndrome comes up, which it does, why do I belong in this room? Should I be making this investment in my business? Surely they could have asked somebody else to speak. So, um, last month I was reached out by my college and they said, we would like you to give the commencement speech for 2024 graduating class.

And my first thought, which is embarrassing to say, is I turned to my husband and I’m like, They could have found somebody better. And he was like, are you kidding me? I struggle with this as much as anybody else. But in every single one of those situations is, I believe, I deep down believe, I don’t know how many women are going to be giving a commencement speech.

And I don’t know how many of them are going to be a woman of color. And I asked myself, could I figure out how to give a commencement speech? And the answer was yes. Could I figure out how to hire a CTO and build a tech stack? Yes. Could I figure out how to record my podcast in garage band and make it a labor of love?

Yes, still to this day, I am recording in garage band. Your girl’s ghetto is all get out, but I think to myself, I can be consistent and I think I could figure it out and I don’t think that I was given a God sized dream if I didn’t have the capacity to do it. So yes, I struggle, but it’s just those two things.

Can I be consistent? Can I figure it out? And then it will take longer than what you hope. And the results will be different than what you expect. And it’s going to be so much better than you imagine. 

Akua: Oh, yes. So much truth in that. Yes. And also too, I just want to say the fact that you keep saying that you’re not smart, ma’am, you have me shooketh every week.

Okay. So stop, stop playing games. Let’s not play games. Okay. Like 

Jasmine: I do believe, I do believe in the power of words and I do believe that our brain listens to what we say. So what I should say, what I should say, what I should say is I am not the kind of person who’s that, that has that like mass appeal intelligence.

Somebody who can just take a bite out of many things or somebody took a quick learner. What I will say though, what I will say is what I know of the tiny bit that I know of. I feel pretty confident in that. So thank you. I’m kind of reframing that. Like I do. I do know a lot about a little bit. And so in that regard, I feel confident talking about other anything else, anything else.

I’m like, Oh, but in my lip, I do not know. And I do not pretend to know. So yes, thank you for the reframe. 

Akua: I’m just saying when I hear you speak and every time I’m in every time each week of the session, I’m like, did she say what now? I’m like, Oh, Okay. Well, let me, let me start thinking about this differently.

So, um, just want to absolutely highlight that, but I love that so much. I think so many of us, I think of myself when, um, when you said like when you reached out to, you know, literally do a commencement speech at a graduation. I mean, that is huge. And I just remember with my own, I’m going to be pretty transparent here with my own personal conversation with Natalie Frank.

And when she, you know, told me the news and then she had said, you know, Akua, I want you to take over the show. And instantly I first thought in my mind. I literally said to her, I said, absolutely not. It’s like, that was my first thing. I said, you are in, like, no, I’m not doing this, miss ma’am. And, you know, and she was like, okay, cool, like, that’s fine, but think about it.

But it was similar to those things that you had said, you know, and it was just so Like, Akua, you can figure this out, number one, and she was having her season of being bold and gutsy, and I was like, I gotta be gutsy too. Like, I can figure this out. I can do it. I have the support. There are people, you know, there’s amazing supportive people at HoneyBook who are here.

Like, I can do this. And so, I just leaned into it, and it has been like, it’s been so uncomfortable, so many moments, but I am learning so much. So much about myself about who I am as a person, who I am as a business owner, the person I want to become the business owner I want to be and how I want to show up in a lot of these spaces.

And so just to even say like, they’re so, if you’re listening, so I know so many of us are, can all relate to that capacity where like there’s an opportunity or something comes up and we can instantly automatically be like, huh. Me, you know what I mean? And so just similar to you, I’m like, Oh my gosh, I’m reminding myself to have like, I can do hard things.

I’m capable. I can figure it out. And so, yes, I love that. So, but 

Jasmine: add to that you are consistent. How many shows did you work with alongside Natalie and stay consistent to prove yourself? We stack proof. Our actions just stack proof. Is that like somebody’s like, Oh, I want to run a marathon. You don’t wake up the next day and you run a marathon.

What do you do? You stack proof. It’s like one day you run for five minutes and you do that for five days and the next day you run. I mean the next day six, you run six minutes and you do that for another five days and then day 15 you’re out there running seven minutes. You’re just stacking proof. And I think that’s what you did.

So two main things for imposter syndrome would be the things that you did. Can I stack proof? Can it be consistent? And can I figure it out? And you did. 

Akua: Yes. Oh, I know. And that’s, that’s, it’s fact. And I know, I love how you just, it’s, it’s simple. It’s simple when you hear it. It’s, we all know it’s so much harder to implement, but then when you’re actually talking about it, you’re like, can you figure it out?

Yes or no? It’s like almost right. Like putting it in a framework. Can you figure it out? Yes or no? Yes. Okay. Then what’s the next step, right? Like that helps you move on to where like, okay. Yes. Like where you can empower yourself to move forward. I love that. And so a question I’m really curious about for you is.

What is next for Jasmine? Like, as you were, you know, number one, you’re giving a speech at a, at your college, which is amazing. I’m excited to hear about that, but also, you know, I’m gonna take my girl. Everything’s content. I’m taking my 

Jasmine: videographer. I was like, I’m not even recording. I was like, I’m gonna take it so I could share it.

Like, you know, it’s just like, how many people are going to be in a stadium at that time? But how many followers do I have? Or how many times can I share the things that I have? And I feel like I feel like I want that pressure on myself because I don’t feel like you ever give a commencement speech. to the people who are sitting in the audience, you give it to other people who need to hear that message as well.

So, yeah. Sorry. 

Akua: No, no, no. I’m excited. I can’t wait to see you in your gown and cap. Because it gave me one of those. I’m pretty sure. I’m like, okay, okay. I know. I know. I’m excited. But I’m really curious to know, like, what is next for you? You know, and especially, how do you continue to lean in with whatever it is that you’re doing?

And, What are you excited about? What are you nervous about? I’m so curious to know. 

Jasmine: Uh, I had a conversation with my mentor and she was on my podcast and she had said something that has kind of been like a defining thing for the me the past year. And she had said that you earn the right to solve bigger problems because there’s like the story in entrepreneurship that we’re saying, well, when we get to this place, When we get to that spot, it’ll be easier or more manageable.

And that was like a common misnomer and you know, I’m very fortunate that the business has continued to grow year year over year. And whenever I said, okay, well it’s just when I make 100, 000, well it’s just when I make 100, 000 in a month, it’s just when I make a million dollars, well it’s just when I make a million dollars in a month, it’s just when I make a million dollars in a day.

And so it’s always this moving line that never became capital E. Enough. And so I think that my big move this year is to really embrace the bigger problems I get to help solve for people, the more money the business makes. And so this whole year has been a year of exploration is how might we solve bigger problems?

And one thing that I distinctly realized in 2022 was I’m the kind of person who, uh, I love to solve things. I love to be like, I’m a get her done kind of girl. Like, let’s just go, go, go. And, uh, you, a separate entity can only get to a certain point on your own in anything. Positive, amazing, powerful, transformative has been on the back of the Team that we have built.

And so for me, it is a whole, like, in fact, just this morning, I went on a walk and oftentimes I get my clearest thoughts when I’m exercising, because I don’t listen to anything. I don’t do anything. I’m just in the zone. And so I had sent a voice memo to our COO. And I said, I just want to say that as a CEO, many times we function in two zones, reactive or responsive.

At our most healthy where our, our majority is responsive. I’m responding to things, initiatives, visions, reactive is it’s emotional. I need to give a quick response and I’m going to send you a message today that is fully responsive so that if ever in the future, it’s reactive, you know, the true root of it.

Undistilled undiluted. And I said, I love the structure of the business that we have today. And I want to keep this structure. I want to keep this structure and I want to double and double and double and double what we’re doing in this business. So this is me being fully responsive. And then I listed everything I currently love.

I am no longer in meetings that I don’t need to be there to be like a hype up girl. I have two standing meetings a week. I have large swaths of work days. Yesterday was a work day where I get to only do things that only I can do in the business. If somebody else in the business can do it. I need to not be doing it.

I need to get out of the weeds. I need to co create with a powerhouse team and I can do the thing that only I can do in my business. I only want to do only things that I can do in any time. So one of the questions that we had, we had a conversation with in the podcast channel on slack and they were talking about finding the right type of editor.

So we had three different editors work on it and I was listening to the nuances and they wanted my feedback and I said, I love that. I was asked about the feedback. Okay. But let me tell you, I trust our podcast producer and let me tell you that even though our COO came back to us, she’s like, yeah, but she had an opinion and you had a different opinion.

I was like, but let me just tell you at the end of the day, yes, I preferred somebody else for X, Y, and Z, but it wasn’t 10 X greater. I was listening to nuances that the average listener is not going to listen to. So the fact of whatever time it took me for me to be in there, to look at pop mics, to figure out the kind of acoustics, I’m like that 30 minutes was worth the dollar amount that served the business much better than.

What we did in the podcast and she’s like I hear it loud and clear and I was like that felt so good So where am I at right now? I’m asking myself How might we solve bigger? Problems and I think it’s been a very interesting Conversation because the minute you start asking these questions your mind starts opening up to pathways that probably had other people Always been there and you never allowed yourself to see them.

It is the same thing as like, Oh, if you get a new car and it’s like a red, whatever, a red BMW, all of a sudden you start seeing red BMWs. They were always there. They were always there, but you just see them differently now. So all of a sudden we start asking, like, I wonder if we could. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, these conversations that I’m having, I’m like, Oh, it’s always been there.

And so right now it’s just a year of deep exploration. And I told the team, I was like, so how little can we pull on making an ask of the audience? How little can, how much can we over serve and ask for a little? And so that’s where we’re at right now. Like, how do I solve, because the bigger, the problems that I solve for people who could really afford it, the more I’m empowered to create, create, create, create to the people who need it the most and can’t afford it.

And so that’s been our big focus this year. 

Akua: Oh my gosh, I love that so, so much and just how you are leaning more into exploring and just creating that space for yourself so that you can become more innovative. And I think innovation is key because you know, the landscape of entrepreneurship, it’s just changed.

It’s changed so much over the years. Like what just even just from four years ago, like after the pandemic, I feel like everything has just shifted. And how, and the way that we do business. completely has changed. And innovation is one of the best ways to help you stay on top of things, but also to where you can do the things that really truly bring you joy and that are really going to serve your audience and serve them well.

And so, oh my gosh, Jasmine, I could talk to you for hours and I’m like, oh my gosh, 

Jasmine: can I add, can I add just one time? I need to make sure there’s a moment of clarity because then when you’re like, I love how you add so much time and space for creativity and innovation. And I’m like, That is true, but it is not 100 percent of the truth.

And I want to make sure that I’m sharing 100 percent of the truth because I don’t want somebody listening to it and being like, must be nice. What Akua said was true. I am creating space. I am allowing for innovation. I’m in a zone of creativity, but please know it comes at a cost. And the cost for me right now is coming in time.

Every minute of my day is truly scheduled. And I even have to plan ideate for X set up meeting for Y build out team structure for whatever. And also At money, we were cutting off revenue streams because they were requiring me to be the driving force behind it and not the team. So please understand that.

Yeah, it’s a beautiful zone. It’s also a very precarious zone and we live and die by the sword so that we, you know, we cut down the crops that we think are going to impede on what we hope to be a much larger harvest in the future. So that’s, that’s the 100. 

Akua: Well, thank you for saying that because I, a question I was going to ask literally for you is kind of so much of how you are creating that space, because I feel like as, especially with solopreneurs, like it’s so difficult where it’s like, even for me at times, like I said, my capacity has changed and I’ve been like, Oh my gosh, like I want to be innovative.

I want to create that space, um, where I can, you know, think of something new and this and that and that, but I’m so exhausted and like X, Y, Z. So I love that you shared that because I’m like, Yeah, it’s gonna come at a cost. I didn’t even think of that. I literally did not think in my mind that that could like what you have to give up in order to be able to create those spaces, but you need to create.

I feel like it’s important to create those spaces because that’s how your business is essentially going to evolve and it’s and take you into a journey that you would never think of. I never ever in my life wanted to be a storyteller. I never thought that I never even thought that my business was gonna be, you know, but it was just like, yeah, I literally kept having those spaces to be creative.

I just remember like in the beginning journey in our business, when you have much more of that space, but as things continue to evolve and scale and grow, the amount of time just becomes so much more limited and it’s just so much more difficult. And then like personally at times where I have felt stagnant in my business and I’m like, I just don’t have that space to create and it’s such a hard hump to get over.

And so I’m glad that you were just overall just transparent of like, I am creating the space, but also to like, let’s look at the facts here of like what you also have to give up. So absolutely love that so much. And Jasmine, this, this whole conversation has just been so, so impactful. I mean, I could talk to you for hours.

This is the first time we’re 

Jasmine: meeting and I’m like, Oh my God, like if you left us alone in a coffee shop, we’d open and close it down. And then be like, this time tomorrow, 

Akua: with snacks, get me some good snacks. I will never leave. Exactly. And chatting about all things about life and business. And no, truly, this has been a life, life giving conversation.

And I think if you’re listening, cause I have felt it too. I’ve just, I feel just a certain amount of, um, permission in certain areas of letting go and, and you know, what. Really thinking about again, what kind of business owner do I want to be? And, and in this new season of life. And so a question that we love to end with for every episode is what do you think is the biggest differentiator between the businesses that succeed and the ones that fail?

Jasmine: Consistency. It is literally everything you want is on the other side of consistency. And it is so simple, but it is not easy. 

Akua: But now I’m going to add to that because we hear consistency all the time. And I’ve also also heard you got to be consistent with what looks like for you and all those different types of things.

How do you stay consistent? 

Jasmine: You plan for it. And I want to be very clear that consistency is not doing the same thing again and again. That’s the exact definition of insanity. Einstein said, Insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result. All I’m saying in regards to consistency is just decide to show up and do something.

Because it is the something that will lead to a slightly different iteration the next day and a slightly different iteration the next day. So it’s always a constant evolution, but you have to just first make the commitment to do something every day. And what we want to do is we want to quantify, well, if it’s only a 10 minute thing, did I really do it?

So is it really worth it? The answer is always yes. It is better for you to put your head down at the end of the day and say, instead of watching that one extra episode of Netflix, instead of sitting around scrolling for 10 minutes, I should have been engaging. It is that one. an act of consistency that truly defines those who succeed and those who do not.

And I know I sound pretty hard nosed about it and I’m bullish. I am bullish around making a decision because here’s the thing. They, the people say, Oh, it’s so easy for people to be consistent if they’re disciplined. And I’m like, no, we’re all disciplined. We just decide to apply our discipline in different ways.

It is very, it takes somebody very disciplined to watch an entire season on Netflix. That’s discipline. 

Akua: So true. That’s 

Jasmine: discipline. It’s a lot of discipline for somebody to eat a whole pizza instead of three or four slices. That’s discipline. It’s just as disciplined for you to say, I’m not going to watch Netflix.

And instead I’m going to go through and plan my content for the next month, the next week. I’m going to find my content for the next day, depending on how much time you have. We’re all disciplined. Where are you applying your discipline in order for you to get the benefits of consistency? My mind is blown.

Because 

Akua: that is so true. I have never, ever, ever thought about it that way. It is so true. It is absolutely, it’s a different, it’s a, where are you applying the discipline? I have absolutely shamelessly watched so many episodes of Grey’s Anatomy recently. You sound like my sister in law. It caught me and I was like, here I am again.

And you know, halfway through season one in a day, you know what I mean? Where I was like, oh. I have work to do. I have work to do. And that’s so true. And I think, again, it just makes me think about number two things. My therapist reminded us, she’s like, choose your heart. Everything in life is hard and it’s just a different type.

Choose your heart, right? Like if you’re watching and this is not to guilt anybody, cause I, like I said, I just did it the other day now, but you know, if you’re out here watching or doing something where you know that your time is best spent, you’re going to have a harder time, right? Like I always think to myself now, like, okay, if I don’t do this now, what’s going to happen?

Like, I’m going to have a harder time doing this or that. So I’m like, just get it done now. Choose your heart. Right. And so I remember I saw this, uh, social media posts. I’m like, what consistency looks like? And it was like all of these, uh, illustrations and it had like, like a bottle, like, right. Like one day maybe you could give just, you know, 10 percent or the next day you can give 50 or then the next day you can give a hundred and then, or 20%.

And it’s like, I think to your point of just like, still just showing up to do something that’s going to move the needle forward in your business. So I love that so much. And Jasmine, thank you. Thank you so much for being on the show today and for people that wanna connect with you, where can they find you?

Jasmine: Well, I have to say that this conversation has been very McDreamy. You can find [email protected] or on my podcast, the Jasmine Star Show, . 

Akua: Oh my gosh. Uh, this conversation has been so much fun. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here and for everybody listening until next time.

Akua Konadu: One year ago this week, we launched the Independent Business Podcast. And what better way to celebrate than by doing our very first episode roundup. Now, you know, every episode we end with the question, what’s the biggest differentiator between the businesses that succeed and the ones that fail? Well, we gathered some of our amazing answers by some of the incredible guests who have been on the show.

Their responses are going to leave you empowered and inspired. We’ve shared a soundbite from each episode along with the name of the guest and the episode number so you can go back and listen to the full conversation. Not only that, all of the original episodes will be linked in the show notes. Now, this is a huge milestone and we are just so excited that you have been here with us through this incredible journey.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast player. Now let’s get into the episode. Hey everyone. This is your host Akua Konadu and you’re listening to the independent business podcast. More people than ever are working for themselves and building profitable businesses in the process.

So on this show, I get to sit down with some of the most influential authors, entrepreneurs, and creators to break down the science of self made success so that you can achieve it too.

Our first tip is from episode 32 with Instagram growth coach, Brock Johnson and his episode. We talk about his learnings from losing 14, 000 followers in one week and his take on business success. It’s not as complicated as you think. Let’s check it out. 

Brock: The difference between the business owners who are successful and the ones who aren’t ultimately, it comes down to consistency on Instagram, on social media, consistently showing up.

It also comes down to not overthinking it. Like stop trying to make perfect content. Stop overthinking everything you post. Is this good enough? Most people aren’t even paying attention to you anyway. Well, I have this one hair out of place. Well, this filter isn’t right. Well, I made a typo here. Who cares?

No, one’s going to notice the vast majority of your followers. Ain’t paying that much attention to you. They’re too busy worried about themselves and their own mistakes and their own imperfections. So the creators, the business owners who are successful are the ones who first They’re willing to bet on themselves.

They’re willing to rip off the bandaid. They’re willing to make the jump, take the leap, whatever cliche expression you want to use here, they just get started. Like they, they stop overthinking it. They have the superpower of under thinking it and just taking action. And then once they take that action, they just keep doing it.

They keep showing up, they keep hammering, they keep putting in the work day after day, and. They learn as they go, they have that 1 percent improvement. They’re constantly making little tweaks along the way. Like there’s all those little things that will add up over time. Sure. But ultimately like 95 percent of people will fail because they just stay consistent.

They just give up. They, they get dejected because of bad results or whatever. And so they just give up when ultimately the ones who are successful and seem like they’re overnight results and seem like they’re overnight successes. They don’t. You look back and those are the people who have actually been consistent for like last 14 years.

The person who’s like writing the book about their a hundred million dollar business. They’re actually, they’ve been doing this for like 20 years. They didn’t just have like one viral TikTok. They’ve been doing this. They’ve been putting in the work. They were willing to bet on themselves and ultimately they were willing to just get started.

Akua Konadu: Tip number two is from episode 46 with Denyte Bearhay, who is a messaging and positioning strategist. And we talk about how to create an empathy forward sales strategy in your business. And her hot tip, to remember that you are the secret sauce to your business. I think 

Danait: it’s really being able to carve your own path and seeing that everything else is a tool.

If you can see everything else, social media, chat GPT, strategies and tactics and hacks as tools to enhance your business. What you do and how you do it, then that mindset is everything in business because you will be the person who’s going to be okay if like the internet shuts down tomorrow and you’re going to go, you’re going to be able to be the person who’s going to go, Put a stand outside your house and be like, Hey, this is what I do.

This is how I help people. And you’re going to, you’re going to find a way to make things happen. And I think that’s just like, I think entrepreneurs are just naturally like that. We have that grit, that ability to be scrappy and to figure things out. And so if you can lean on that more than you lean on all the tools that are available to us.

That is what will continue to, those are the businesses that I see continue to succeed regardless of what’s going on in the world. And the ones that kind of fall to the wayside, because unfortunately they’ve relied so heavily and think that the tools are the key to the success when in reality, you are the key to the success.

It’s you and you, what you’re bringing to the table and what you’re bringing to the world. And I think when you can really tap into that, like, You become unstoppable as an entrepreneur. And I think there’s nothing more magical than that. 

Akua Konadu: All right. So tip number three, we pulled from episode 20 with wedding photographer, Caitlin James.

She sat down with us to give us the inside scoop on what it really takes to make 250, 000 a month in her business. She reminds us that in order to have a successful business, you need to have a vision and purpose that goes beyond the bottom line. 

Kaitlyn: I think the businesses that succeed in, from my perspective, I think they have vision.

Beyond the bottom line, I think they have purpose and maybe statistically this would prove me wrong, right? Cause there’s always people that can have a business with no heart and people are, you know, duped into buying from something that they don’t really believe in and I’m sure there’s exceptions, but that also goes back to, well, what is success because Success for me, someone said recently, um, we buy raw milk from farm out in Lexington, um, Creambrook farms.

And we were actually with the owner the other day and we were talking about business and he’s like, it seems like everybody just, when did business become about acquisition? He’s like, when did that become a thing? You build a business just to get it sold and make a lot of money. He’s like, I thought you built a business to serve your family and to serve your life and to do something you’re passionate about, make money doing it.

And I’m like, You’re right. You are so right. And so if that is success, then it does have to be rooted in purpose and how you’re changing people’s lives, which is all rooted in the vision of it. So maybe I am right. Maybe this is, maybe this is what I truly believe. I do think that it has, you have to have a vision that goes beyond yourself.

And if that is true, then. People attach on to that and sometimes I think people attach on to that before they even know why they’re attracted to you. We’ve had people say this before they will say things like I found you on YouTube and I don’t know why but I just keep watching all your stuff and then they’ll see one video or hear me explain one thing and they’re like I Resonate with you.

Thank you for caring about what you’re doing. And I do I think that is At the heart of a business owner, I think ultimately it’s when their purpose aligns with their passion, which is what I aim to do with the rest of my business running years. 

Akua Konadu: Tip number four, we grabbed from episode 39 with the owner of Currently Events, Christiana Yibra.

We learned in her episode, the systems and strategies she implemented that led to her side hustle generating half a million dollars in revenue and her key takeaway, being prepared is essential to business success. 

Christiana: I think it’s that preparedness. We’ve talked a lot about that. Um, I think, you know, I, I love listening to podcasts that give real tangible, true advice for someone who’s listening right now to actually implement.

And if anybody can advocate for the power of having a side hustle drive, some financial freedom for them, I feel really confident that I can actually Probably years ago, I don’t know if I would have been able to stand on a metaphorical stage or a platform and tell people, but I think one thing that I’d love to share with people is that no matter what your full time role is, if you have a passion that’s elsewhere, being prepared and researched and thoughtful about how to bring those passions to life is It’s not a, it’s not a pipe dream.

It’s not something that’s so far away that you can’t attain it. The photo booth for me, again, not the most groundbreaking work I’ve ever done, but it is something I love. I’m so proud of and having the, the preparedness now, now to start wasn’t so prepared. So having infrastructure like what HoneyBook offered me, um, allowed me to really, Focus my full time efforts on my W2 role, but man, I felt really good when those inquiries came in and I wasn’t worried about who was going to respond to them or how we were going to get the contracts out to them fast.

That gave me a peace of mind to just get ultra creative and lean all the way in. And without it, I would not be able to have afforded, um, some of the incredible things I’ve been able to do the last several years, having that side hustle, but be a full time passion is something I think that there’s a lot of people who are trying to figure out how they make that next move.

If you have the. It’s less about the money that you have and it’s more about how prepared you can be and how willing you are to dig deep. The one thing I’ll say to people is that there’s a lot of research out there and people have shared their stories about what works and what works well. So listening to podcasts like this, like if you’re thinking, Hmm, I gotta figure out what my next move is, you’re already a step ahead.

Of a very large amount of people who are in the similar step, listening and learning and seeking out these resources, um, are what’s going to differentiate you and the others. So I’m, I’m proud to be able to say that finally. And, um, I’ve loved to be able to share more with the creatives that we work with here in Dallas and, um, and beyond.

So platforms like this, give me a reach beyond what my photo booths can do just here in the DFW area. And I know that our impact is, is there as well. 

Akua Konadu: Tip number five is from episode 31 with Jen Olmsted, the CEO of Tonic Sightshop. We did a really fun case study breaking down how Starbucks turned the pumpkin spice latte into a major lifestyle brand that we all know and love.

She shares with us that the most successful businesses are the ones that are able 

Jenn: to pivot. I think the number one thing that I see and that I’ve experienced is the biggest differentiator, but that between brands that succeed and brands that fail is the ability to pivot the ability to learn and grow and to make different decisions over time.

And so Starbucks is a great example of us. They saw something that was working. They said, okay, let’s lean into this. Every year we’re going to find out a new way to do it and do it better. And one of the reasons that we at Tonic exist is because we say that you guys need a website that moves as fast as you do, because in this economy, nothing is a guarantee anymore, right?

There are certain things that used to be a guarantee. Facebook ads, great example, felt like you were printing money with Facebook ads a few years ago. No longer the case. Apple changed a few things. That’s gone. Instagram, right? We were like. Instagram sure thing I can send a photo to all my friends.

They’re gonna see it like Jokes on us. No, like we’ve all got to create video content now. So when you can figure out as a brand, what do I need to do to still reach my people? No matter the medium that I’m experiencing, no matter the kind of content that I have to create that ability to pivot, I think is absolutely everything as a brand and it requires listening to your audience.

Knowing who you are in your marketplace and then being willing to shift when it’s working and when it’s not working over and over again. 

Akua Konadu: Tip number six comes from episode 27 with Emmy award winning designer and CEO of The Future, Chris Do. In his episode, we explored how to determine your rates, select the right clients to work with, and cultivate community.

He gives us so many gems in this next clip and it will leave you absolutely speechless. Let’s take a look. 

Christiana: Number one, I think is focus. Businesses fail because they’re not focused. They are, they have a case of the shiny object syndrome. And like, squirrel, okay, that’s cool. I’ll do this and I’ll do that.

And they lose track of their core business. And this happens especially in this age when we have so much distraction available to us and the next big idea seems better than the current idea. What we need to do is we need to figure out what we want to do. And we need to commit. And this will be my third and last reference to Seth Godin.

In his book, The Dip, he talks about this and there’s a little graph, right? So when you start out, you get results right away and it’s really fun and exciting. So the results are high, the effort and time is limited. But what happens is it starts to hit a peak and you go into the trough of this curve.

You’re entering the dip where, you know what, I was messing around with tennis, but now it’s like, it’s a chore. I don’t want to learn how to serve. My backhand sucks. And my foot placement is all wrong. And it’s like, it’s just too much work. And I’m not seeing the same kind of progress in fun. So what people do is they quit.

They quit in the dip because it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of time and they’re not seeing that same return on investment of time. But here’s the thing, this is what Seth talks about. So in the dip, you have to have the courage and the commitment, the determination to get through it, because it’s difficult to get through.

And then you put in your thousand hours or ten thousand hours of practice. You hire a coach. You go to workshops. You read books. You watch videos. You train up. You level up. You skill up. And you start to climb that steep ascent and it starts to get good again until you get to this very rare place where only a few people exist.

The masters, the experts, the thought leaders. So instead of looking at the dip as your enemy, look at it as your friend because difficulty creates natural barriers to competition and it creates scarcity. If only a few people can become a doctor, if only a few people can be a brand designer for global companies in the fortune 100, that creates value because you’ve reduced the competition by just going through the dip.

So maybe there’s a couple things on pack here. You need to focus and commit, you have to put in the work, you have to find joy in the difficult, because if you don’t, it’s going to be really hard to get through it. And the last thing I’ll say is, and I put this on a tweet recently, you have to be kind to yourself when you fail, because every journey is full of failures, and what happens is we hear the voice, Of whoever’s most influential in our lives, oftentimes one of our parents, when we mess up, when we lose a job, when we totally eff it up and clients yell at us, we’re like, Oh, we’re on it, we’re in our mind, just destroying ourselves.

And the thing is, you’re going to need that resilience to bounce back up and to wake up tomorrow, full of determination and say, you know what, instead of just dogging myself on this, I’m going to ask myself this question. What was the learning opportunity here? What was the teachable moment? The thing that the universe sent to me to learn and knew that I had the strength to get through.

Cause if I don’t learn that lesson, this will be all in Maine and I’m almost destined to do this again. And I’ve had many failures in my life. Code them in my mind as failures. I just look at them as learning opportunities. Sometimes they’re very expensive learning opportunities and I want to grow because I don’t like making the same mistake and failing again.

Akua Konadu: Tip number seven comes from episode 44 with the CEO of Elevate Visuals, Shay Cochran. She pulls back the curtain to show us how she was able to build multiple six figure businesses while only working 16 hours a week. She keeps it short and sweet with this tip that the key is discipline to business success.

Shay: Discipline. Easy. I have a quick answer to that one. It’s not the funnest word, but it, listen, it’s not your marketing strategy. It’s not your product. It’s not even whether your product is that good or the best. It’s, it’s discipline. It’s disciplined thought. Discipline in your thought process, which is what we’ve talked about.

It’s disciplined focus. So here’s what I can be good at. Here’s what’s working. Here’s where I can win. I’m gonna, here’s the platform I can win on. Like it’s, it’s disciplined focus. And then it’s disciplined action. It’s an, it’s one thing to know what you need to do. But we all know as an entrepreneur, it’s a whole nother thing to sit down at your desk and actually do it.

Actually do the thing that’s the most important in your day. And not email. And not the other things. You know, to actually do it. So discipline, discipline, discipline. I think it’s the disciplined people who win as entrepreneurs. Disciplined people. Thought disciplined, focused, disciplined action. 

Akua Konadu: All right.

Tip number eight, we pulled from episode 14 with Maddie James, who is a best selling author and a lifestyle expert and her episode, she encourages all independent business owners to embrace your own magic, her tip to running a successful business, don’t give up. 

Mattie: Anybody can give up. Anybody can give up, but the people who say, okay, you know, I might’ve, I might’ve missed the mark here, but I’m going to still show up.

I’m gonna show up even though I looked stupid in front of some people last month when, you know, my email went out and I didn’t actually put in the names of people and it just said, you know, first name. I’m gonna show up even though packages showed up to people’s houses late and I told them that they were gonna get their product this time.

I’m gonna show up even though I didn’t get selected in this list that I wanted to be a part of. I’m gonna show up. You just have to keep on showing up. Again, there are so many reasons why you shouldn’t, but the people who keep on going, they are the people who win. They are the people who win and I mean and you can see this in so many different examples in music in sports In movies certainly in business, but in life the people who keep showing up not only for themselves But they show up because they know that they’re gifting their light Their magic is to give other people permission to show up in their gifting their light and their magic as well That is what will never fail You That is what we’ll never lose because when you start to show up at a service for others and not just to please yourself, it’s really impossible to win and I really truly believe that the brands and the companies and businesses who decide to do that, they are the ones who break through the noise and make a real difference.

Akua Konadu: Tip number nine is from episode 35 with photographer Hope Taylor, and we dive into what she learned from building a multi six figure passive income streams. And what is Hope’s tip? Don’t be afraid to try things again. I feel like 

Hope: in the vein of what we’ve talked a lot about, about like not being scared to start something new and about kind of using your failures just to learn and treating new things as an experiment and just helping, letting that content help you to move forward and figure out what you need to know about your audience.

I think one of the biggest things, especially in this passive space that differentiates people is your ability to change with the times and try things again at a new angle if they don’t work the way you thought the first time. Because one of the things I see so often in like my mastermind students who are incredible that they’re in that high level coaching program where I work really closely with them is that they put so much work into a first launch.

Like when you’re creating a product for the first time, it’s a lot of work, right? Like, it’s hard. baby, but it’s our pride and joy, right? Like we’re putting this thing into the world and if it doesn’t go exactly how we thought it was going to go, it can be really easy to feel really defeated by that because we’ve put a hundred percent of our heart and soul into this product and it would be really easy to then just put that product on a shelf and never talk about it again and kind of have your tail tucked between your legs.

Like what I talked about earlier with my first course launch. And I think the differentiator is the people that are willing to look at that in every way. Analyze it and be strategic about it and then do it again. And that’s just, I hate how like fluffy and like typical that sounds of like, just get back up and keep trying.

But I actually am somebody that has anxiety and like really struggle with this sometimes of like, okay, but what, you know, this could go wrong could go wrong and people could hate it and people could say mean things on the internet and here’s the hundred negative things that could come out of me trying this again and my therapist actually says this to me, her name’s Maria, shout out Maria, we love her, but she always says if I, if I say I’m anxious about something or come up with, you know, a reason that I’m stressed, she always says, okay, Let’s actually discuss the worst possible case scenario, right?

Because our brain will create 17 worst possible case scenarios and then we’ll just spiral and be stressed and not try again or, or, you know, fear of failure. But if we actually analyze the worst case scenario, like, okay, if I launch this product that I’ve worked really hard on and I don’t make as much money as I thought, what’s gonna happen?

I’m going to be a little sad, right? Somebody could say something mean on the internet. Then what? I’m going to delete their comment. Then what? I’m going to block them. Then what? I’m never going to think about it again and I’m just going to do it again. The worst possible case scenarios are never as bad as we make them seem in our brain.

And I think that that kind of mindset shift and piece of advice has really helped me to look at it like you said. Like an experiment. Try it. See what happens. Analyze it and try again because the worst possible case scenario is never as bad as our brain tries to tell us it’s going to be. 

Akua Konadu: Tip number 10 comes from episode one with Ellen Yin, the founder and podcast host of Cubicle to CEO.

In her episode, Ellen takes us through her journey of quitting her corporate job without a backup plan and turning a 300 freelancing contract as a marketing consultant into a seven figure business. Ellen shares a powerful reminder of how understanding your data will lead to business success. 

Ellen: It is an affinity for failure, a love for it, actually, the desire to fail as often as possible, because like, like we talked about today, Nat, data drives everything, right?

And you cannot, you truly cannot become the person you want to be or grow the business you want to have if you fail. Are basing everything, filtering everything through the lens of your own lived experience, because what you know limits what you can dream, right? And so until you put yourself out there and experience a lot of things, meet a lot of people, fail a whole ton.

It it’s not possible for you to think bigger. And so when I look at all of the most successful entrepreneurs, I admire. They are hand in hand with failure. They are linked together and they’re excited about it. And so I think if you can fail forward and fail fast, you are going to do so much for your business compared to just trying to, you know, navigate everything with as much perfection as possible.

Akua Konadu: Tip number 11 is from episode 30 with LinkedIn branding expert and business coach, Lucretia Davis. She sat down with us to talk about her excitement. Explosive six figure business strategies for LinkedIn. And she says business owners need to let go of their ego in order to succeed. 

Lakrisha: If I could just dish out a few things.

Number one would be ego. I have observed that ego stops a lot of people from succeeding in business. And when I say ego, not ego that we think about on a daily basis, like, Oh, this person got a big ego. They think they’re all that. It’s not that it is. Having the ability to have a, um, a healthy ego in business, which will help you sustain means to understand that it’s okay to listen to someone’s guidance, whether it’s your coach, consultant, or even know, have the humility enough to know that you do need help.

So that is. And when you get in those settings, actually being able to trust someone. Ego in terms of not getting so offended or frustrated that your content isn’t growing like overnight. And being like the heck with this, because I’m not, I don’t like not being good at stuff. That’s one of the biggest things that I deal with, with my audience, because they’re brilliant people and they are so used to getting things right.

And in a quick turnaround time, and it just does not happen like that in business. And so when they don’t get the quick result, then they’re just like, Oh, this isn’t for me or, Oh, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t, you’re not teaching it right. Or, Oh, you know, it’s this and it’s everything else and everybody else, but, but me.

So I would say that is another thing that holds people back in ego in the sense that you don’t have that level of empathy. For your audience, where you’re continuously trying to find ways to improve the value of the service that you’re providing them to ask for feedback and not get offended. Take that feedback and think like a business person and be like, okay, I’m going to consider this.

Take notes on this to continuously improve my stuff. I would say ego is a real big one that separates people. I have humble confidence. Like you cop, you can do this. Like, you know, you know, your stuff, like. I’m good at this. I can, I can change the world. I can make an impact, but humble confidence in that.

Okay. But now I need help putting the frameworks in place and actually launch this and getting counsel on how to make this grow and work. That’s not my zone of genius. This is my zone of genius. And I’m comfortable with that. 

Akua Konadu: And tip number 12 is from episode 19 with financial expert and New York times bestselling author, Tori Dunlap.

We break down how she turned a single Tik TOK video into a hundred thousand email subscribers. Her hot take to business success, be controversial. 

Tori: It’s immediately gonna have an asterisk on it, but this is the easiest way I can say it. Be controversial. Like, have something to say. I don’t mean controversial and like, say racist stuff, that’s not what I mean.

I mean like, have an opinion. Especially in 2023. People expect you to have an opinion and people also expect to either connect with you and understand what your business is or, or not. I will use a TikTok trend to explain this. The girls that get it, get it. And the girls that don’t, don’t. Like they will either get what you’re doing or they won’t.

Trying to be everything to everybody makes you nothing to nobody. I’m going to say that again. Trying to be everything to everybody makes you nothing to nobody. That is the probably biggest thing that I see. A general, like anybody entrepreneur, uh, tried to do is they’re like, okay, I need, I need to get clients and I need to get money.

So I am just going to offer everything and I’m going to offer it to everybody. When I like went viral for the first time in 2019, I had a piece go out in market watch, which is like a, you know, financial publication, but it, it blew up. It got like a million views in, I think like a week. For like a news article, which was pretty substantial, especially for MarketWatch.

And um, the interesting thing was, is that 95 percent of the comments on that piece were vitriolic. They hated me. They did not like me. They were men in their 60s named Steve, who were like, I don’t get her. Why does she have to make this a gendered issue? Why can’t she just talk about money? And I had this really Interesting choice then, which is, Oh, am I doing something wrong?

Right? Am I doing, am I doing something wrong? Should I shift? I clearly, I don’t appeal to these people and I’m losing potential, you know, followers or clients, but then I realized actually I’m doing something right because if they don’t get it again, girls would get it, get it. The girls don’t don’t the people who understand what we do at her first hundred K become brand evangelists for us.

If you are turned off by the word feminism, you’re not going to follow me. And you never were going to follow me, you were never going to be somebody who wanted to be a part of this community, right? So, yes, if you follow Dave Ramsey, if, again, you don’t like the word feminist, you’re not going to like me.

Great, there’s plenty of other people out there. There’s also, literally, Tens, probably hundreds of millions of women, people who love what we do, who are very aligned in terms of our customer persona, who will 100 percent get it because we have opinions, because we are speaking our mind, because to some people we might be deemed slightly controversial, and I put that in quotes.

So, trying to be everything to everybody makes you nothing to nobody. I need you to pick the right person. The person, the thing you’re trying to say, and understand that not everybody’s going to get it, and that actually means you’re doing something right. Because the people that will, will tattoo your brand on their forehead.

Like, they will love it and come back and be so excited to engage with you. And that’s the people that you want, just from a business angle. Those are the people that purchase from you and keep purchasing from you. Those are the people who like everything you post, right? The people who are fair weather, You know, followers or people who are like, yeah, I don’t really get it.

You don’t want those people anyway. So, especially when you’re first getting started. And I think anybody at any stage of the business, really important to remind yourself, have the people in mind. Don’t try to be everything to everybody. Understand. You have to connect with the people you’re trying to connect with and they should immediately understand if this is for them or not.

If it’s not cool, they move on. If it’s for them, that’s, that’s the time to start nurturing. 

Akua Konadu: That wraps up our episode roundup. Thank you so much for tuning in and celebrating with us. I hope that these conversations serve as a reminder that you are powerful and the work that you do matters. The work of independent business owners matter.

And we at HoneyBook, we are so grateful to show up with you. every single week to help you create the life and business you deserve. If you have enjoyed today’s episode, help us spread the word by sharing a screenshot of your favorite episode to your Instagram stories. This helps us reach more people and supports the show.

Thank you so much for being here. And until next time, that ends our episode of the independent business podcast. Everything we’ve discussed today can be found at podcast. honeybook. com. Head to our website to access for show notes, relevant links, and all of the resources that you need to level up. And if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss our future content, drop us a review and leave our guests some love on social.

And thank you again for listening.

Akua Konadu  

What does leadership look like to you as an independent business owner? Whether that looks like speaking on a stage running a mentorship program, or simply just supporting your clients, you are a leader. Today’s episode on the independent business podcast, we sat down with Lilia Mati who is a coach for speakers and creative educators to talk about business leadership. Laelia shares with us her journey as an independent business owner, what stepping into leadership to cultivate a thriving community looks like and what it truly means to lead by example, and stick to your values. If you are looking for more ways to invest in yourself as a leader, then this episode is for you. Hey, everyone, this is your host, Akua konadu. And you’re listening to the independent business podcast, more people than ever are working for themselves and building profitable businesses in the process. So on this show, I get to sit down with some of the most influential authors, entrepreneurs and creators to break down the science of self made success so that you can achieve it too.

Akua Konadu  

Hello, hello, Laylee. How are we doing today?

Laylee Emadi  

Hey, friend, I’m good. How are you? Good. So

Akua Konadu  

excited to have you on because this episode has been long overdue. And so I’m really, really excited just to be talking about business leadership, because I think you know, you have played a big part in my business journey. And I think so many people in our community as well. And you also just had a successful, successful round two of the creative educator conference where your girl was the emcee. And it was truly such a blast. But you have been stepping into this role of leadership. I felt like you’d be the perfect person to talk about it. So thank you so much for being here.

Laylee Emadi  

Thank you for having me. And thank you for being the best emcee ever.

Akua Konadu  

Oh, my gosh, you’re welcome. Okay, so let’s get into it. So let’s talk about your entrepreneurial journey. Like, where did you get stuck? How did you get started, to where you are now to where you are essentially just building these amazing, inclusive communities. Oh,

Laylee Emadi  

my gosh, okay, I’m going to try to do the short version of the story because I feel like everybody gets so bored hearing like people’s backgrounds. But I’m also nosy. So I always like to hear other people’s entrepreneurial journeys as well. So I actually I started my business 10 years ago, I started in the entrepreneurial space 10 years ago, officially, I was a high school teacher and dance director and curriculum designer for our district. And I started doing photography as like a side hustle part time, career. And then when I moved full time into photography, I really started to kind of toy with all the different paths I could take within entrepreneurship. And so of course, education ended up being just like a natural progression for me of speaking and creating classes and workshops, and then eventually digital products. And now, of course, my conferences and things like that. So it was a very natural progression within the entrepreneurial space. But I realized looking back that I kind of always was an entrepreneur in some way shape, or form, as a creative as a dancer growing up, I would do choreography, and do guest instruction and, you know, do private lessons and things like that. And those were always like, side hustles without even acknowledging that they were side hustles so I think most entrepreneurs are like that we have like that entrepreneurial spirit. And, you know, kicking it back even further I am I have a daughter of immigrants, we actually I was born in another country. And so watching my parents, you know, from the standpoint of, of the immigrant journey, and that, that passion and and the sacrifice, and just the hard work that has to go into them building their lives here in America, I think really lent itself to my entrepreneurial journey as an adult now without even thinking about it. So all that to say it’s kind of been a lifelong journey in some way, shape, or form. And then like, officially for the past decade, in the creative space, as a photographer, and educator now, I call myself like a retired photographer, I just get to do it for fun, which is great. And now just as an educator and a coach for other educators.

Akua Konadu  

I love that so much, because so many areas where I can relate obviously, as you know, like, I’m first generation as well, my parents immigrated to the US and like it’s true, when you see how they had to work and be scrappy, and figure things out to be able to support you and provide a life for you. And you totally move a lot differently. You know, growing up and so I absolutely love that because I do I do think that shapes like obviously, who you are as a person, but also to how you lead in your business. And so another thing that I’m really curious about is, you know, leadership looks so different than entrepreneurship, but I feel like there’s a lot of us who are like I really want to step into leadership, I really want to become more of a leader in the community, you know, lean into my gifts. How did you essentially realize what your gifts were?

Laylee Emadi  

Yeah, I mean, I think that for anybody who’s feeling like I would love to become a leader in my in my community, I would challenge that statement with switching the statement to I am a leader in my community. Do I think that most independent business owners, without knowing it, or with knowing it are actually in leadership positions within their community just by owning their own businesses? Sometimes I know that, especially for those who have, maybe, maybe they’re not brick and mortar, they’ve maybe feel like, oh, I don’t have that leadership position. But I remember when I was a photographer, and I was doing weddings, seniors, portraits, dancers, I still considered myself a leader in the industry. And I carried myself as such, like, I tried to get involved within my community. And I think that’s where I would say, starting to find those strengths would be, what ways do I feel good getting involved in my community, showing up with representing my company, my business, my independent business, and being able to give back to my community in a way that feels aligned with the values of my business? How can I show myself as a leader, how can I step into that leadership, while still serving my community? Whether it be local, virtual, I think just kind of broadening the horizon of what is leadership? What does it look like in the industry and in the community that I’m a part of already?

Akua Konadu  

Oh, I love that so much. I think, again, like I am a leader, you’re already a leader. And I think that’s something that’s really important as business owners to remember, like you’re leading your clients every day, right? Whether you have or if you have a team to you’re leading your team every day. And I think it just goes to show that like, leadership looks so different for everybody. And so I think a lot of times in our industry, we see a lot of these successful business owners, they’re up on stages, you know, right, and they’re very visible. And it can easily make us feel like that, it’s that we’re not the same, but it’s like you are the same leadership looks different for everybody. And so I think, just as people are speaking on stages, and it’s like those very big moments that are so visible, like, it’s also in the small moments, too. And those are the true moments that really matter, I think in terms of business leadership. And so I think, to your point of just already saying that I am a leader, but then also to putting people first how can I serve the people that are already coming to me that already value? What I have to offer? How can I serve them before anything else? And I think that instantly puts us in a leadership position. And so one thing I’m really curious about as a business owner, especially like I said, like you like I said, You are a very well known leader in the industry. I mean, you have played so you played a big role into my business journey, I think, you know, you have to have the creative educator conference, you just have always created just spaces for business owners to gather and just to be themselves. And so a question that I have is like, what does leadership mean to you? Like, what are things that you have learned as an independent business owner as as a leader? Okay,

Laylee Emadi  

I love that, because I feel like there are two things I can talk about here. One is creating those spaces, like you mentioned, like giving people a space to actually show up in their own leadership and also in serving as a leader and then to the things that I’ve learned in terms of like, what makes a good leader and what makes me feel like I have that roller, I’ve been able to step into that role. And I think the the thing that ties it all together is that I’ve kind of approached everything in my business, like you mentioned about putting people first, that’s how I’ve, I’ve kind of approached everything was from a very service based, I guess, service based environment. So while I was a service based business owner and a service based business, even when I’ve expanded into things like digital products, and things that are not necessarily like a one to one service, I’ve never let go of that being the intent behind everything that I do. And so I think the best leaders are the ones who actually come at it from a point of service. And not a point of, like you said, taking those stages and having the spotlight on them. I think the thing that has made a lot of my community growth, really successful and made the communities within it thrive. And all of the members within those communities help each other and be really invested in our communities has been that I shine the spotlight on as many of them as possible, without taking the spotlight for myself whenever I can. So it’s really been about cultivating spaces where I feel like as the quote unquote leader of that community, I am creating space for other people to really show up fully as themselves and to take that stage and to take that whether it’s a real stage or you know, the hypothetical stage, you know, the theoretical of, of the spotlight and be able to kind of really shine in their own element and feel seen and understood and feel like they’re really put above any kind of profit or any kind of, you know, like end goal for myself. The goal has been community growth, an opportunity for leaders to kind of step into their own.

Akua Konadu  

Oh, I love that so much a question too, that I really want to ask because I feel like when we hear about community, we don’t necessarily see or understand how that can lead to business growth. And I do feel like you are a prime example of that. As somebody who really does put people over prophet who really does put community first before, you know and obviously sales are important in business, you know that, but you obviously with your values you live them out through and through it is woven in everything that you do in your business, whether it is your digital products, whether it is an event that people are gathering for whether, you know, it is a webinar, whatever it is that you do, like your values are through and through where you can see it and feel it. And so, have you seen, I want to send you ask you, what are why have you seen essentially, from putting your values first putting Community First, what does that look like in your business?

Laylee Emadi  

I think it’s so interesting, because initially, you may not see any ROI on that. And that can be kind of the hardest thing. So I just wanted to like start with that disclaimer of I had this conversation recently actually with you and a couple of our other friends who are in the in the creative space about how our values are so important. But it can be really hard to follow through with those values, it’s easy to set a value and to say that this is something that’s really important and integral to my, my values, my ethics, the things that really I want to like call the pillars of my business, it’s easy to say them and set them, it’s a lot harder to follow through on them, especially when you’re not seeing an immediate return when you’re not seeing an immediate ROI. But I will say after a decade in this business, the things that I didn’t see right off the bat, I am now seeing coming in tenfold. So for example, the one that we talk about all the time, as you and I is inclusivity and diversity, you know, having that dei the equity, being able to really follow through on the things that we’re we’re putting out on Instagram, for example, you’re putting out on social media that you call yourself an ally, but at the end of the day, where do your dollars go? Are you able to say no to things that are potential, you know, revenue drivers to be able to stand behind the values and the ethics that you’ve put forward? Sometimes that’s difficult. But what I’ve seen personally in my community is that for every no that I’ve had to say, because something doesn’t align with my values, tenfold, it comes back to me with the people who do show up feeling included, they feel like that extra step that I’ve taken for inclusivity in my business, and in my communities and in my leadership has been allowed them to really fully show up and feel seen and understood enough for them to invest in our community. And they’re bringing in 10 of their friends. So that’s the ROI that I would say you can look forward to seeing is that whenever you’re staying true to whatever value it is that you set for yourself, as a leader, as a community leader, you’re going to see your community get, you know, kind of formed around those values, even though it might take a minute to actually see it in the end.

Akua Konadu  

Yes, I love that so much because it’s true, like the community that you have built. And I’m not saying it to be overdramatic, or cheesy. It’s pure magic. You know what I mean? It truly is, I mean, everybody is in there, and just so much love so much support. And like every is like how can I help you with your business? Right? Like people are sitting down strategizing where, you know, where breakthroughs in businesses are happening because of these intimate moments. And it truly is because you’re meeting people where you’re at. And it’s true, guys, like, you have absolutely given up opportunities that have, like, you know what I mean? Blown up your business, you know what I mean? And so but you have absolute because it didn’t align with your values, have said, You know what, this isn’t serving me. But it’s true, like how it’s come back. And it’s been beautiful to even see that journey of how much it’s come back. Because literally what the universe has provided you is something that I think many of us could have never imagined. And so I think it’s to your point, it is so so easy to say these are my values, but we don’t talk about that enough that it is really, really, really difficult. When that moment comes to actually implement your values, are you going to implement them? And it’s not to say it in a shameful way. But I think again, that’s where we have to really do that gut check of like, Where does my values truly lie? Like, how am I aligning myself? How are the people in my community, like do all of our values? Are they the same? And so I think that’s something that’s just such an important, important things that we have to do internally that internal work and just really ask ourselves, like, Where does my value? Where’s my value truly at? Like, where am I spending my dollars? And I think that’s such such a good reminder, it’s such an important thing. Another question I want to add to that is for many people who are struggling to truly implement their values, like what advice do you have for business owners,

Laylee Emadi  

I would say get as clear as you can possibly get with yourself in terms of like taking a moment to really be as self aware as possible, and as honest with yourself as possible about what is important to you, and really create ways to honor those boundaries of okay, these are the things that are important to me now, how can I implement ways to stay true to those things? So for example, going off the same example of like inclusivity Yes, it’s important to me. So what are some ways that I have implemented in my business that are processes like I know it sounds interesting to say, you know, set these set these intent Jen set these values and then create real ways, not just like hypotheticals in your mind of like, oh, well, if this happens, I’ll do this. But what are actual processes that you could put into place that are black and white. So an example for me when I’m a speaker, and I’m a coach for speakers, so every single time I get an inquiry to speak, if I get an offer to speak, whether I’ve pitched that, or it’s, it’s, you know, somebody is pitching me to come on their stage, I have a script that I actually share with my coaching students, and with my, with my speaking students, where I say, here’s the script, it’s like two sentences. And it essentially asks the person who is offering me that speaking engagement, I would love to know, I’d love to see your speaker lineup, because I mean, I’m ad libbing it here now. But it’s like already written out in a script that I can copy and paste, where it says, like, I want to know who’s speaking because diversity and inclusivity is extremely important. It’s a, it’s a pillar of my of my business. And I want to be able to make sure that I can represent this event well that I can promote this event well, and that I feel that there is, you know, sufficient representation and diversity on your stage before I commit and sign a contract saying, I’m going to show up to your community. And whenever I get that, that response, I mean, that’s where the process has come into play, right? If there is diversity, if there’s representation there, great, awesome, I’ve done my due diligence, and I can move forward and sign the contract, feeling really good about it, because it aligns with my values and the values of my business and my leadership. But if it comes back, and there’s insufficient or no diversity, then I can of course, go from there with the rest of my process. So using this example, I want to give people like a real clear idea of what is a process look like? So that would be step one of the process is like having that question that script there. Part two is knowing what is what is the script for yes, or no, like, if it comes back, and there’s nothing there that that I feel comfortable moving forward with, you’ve got to have in your process, what that next step will be, so that you can remove that discomfort. And that stress that comes of having to come up with a with a response. Like on the fly, you’ve got that laid out where it’s like, okay, there is not sufficient diversity here. So what can I do, I can offer this this pitch this host resources, I can say, let me help you source speakers of color, let me help you fill in these gaps for your audience, so that your audience feels like they’re being represented. Again, you guys I’m using this as an example, you can do this process with anything that is a value of your like of your business, but just having a really clear cut process of like, then what will you do? If they say yes? Or what will you do? If they say no? Then the next step, okay, you sent them the resources, they either want them or they don’t. So then what are you going to do? Are you going to say, like y’all show up anyway, and betray your values, because honestly, that could be easier, or are you going to stick to your values, stick to your script, stick to the processes that you’ve taken the time to be self aware enough to create an advance and send them a very polite, but firm decline of that opportunity, which, again, it is harder in the short term, but in the long run, it ends up being easier because you’ve stayed aligned to your brand values to your business values and ethics. And again, this can be used with any kind of example, I’m just using this one because it’s like, top of mind for me, but and it’s also kind of a difficult, it’s a difficult conversation to have sometimes. And so I want people to understand that no matter how difficult the conversation, or how firm the value is, getting your processes in line is is invaluable.

Akua Konadu  

invaluable. That is that was just pure gold. Because I didn’t even think of that. Right? How can you implement your values? Look at your systems that are in place currently? And do they align with your values? I think that’s such an to your point, it removes the stress of having to have these hard conversations, when you sit and and prepare yourself and fill fulfill those gaps in those systems, right. Like, I think that’s such an important thing, like look at your process, look at your flow, and essentially just be like, Okay, does this align with my values? Yes or no? Okay, where can I fill in those gaps of like, How can I approach these situations and prepare myself to have these harder conversations? And I think it then, because I think a lot of us, I think there’s no shame in it. I think a lot of us as business owners, we struggle with confrontation, right? Like if a client doesn’t like something, right, I think there’s something that you can just carry on in so many different capacities in your business, whether you’re a client doesn’t like something or you know, they’re asking for a discount, like it’s all uncomfortable. So how can you within your process and your values, merge them together to where like, you’re not stressed about these things? Because these things are gonna happen in business. I’m pretty sure like, even as an educator like, same thing. I mean, you prep me for that, you know what I mean? Where I have implemented some of these techniques where I’m like, okay, these are the things that truly mean a lot to me. So if I’m going to be speaking or doing anything else, my business this is what it these are the things that need to happen in order for me to say yes to that and it is true He’s such a huge, huge game changer where I feel more confident as my own advocate, you know, as a business owner. And I think that’s just so important that you have to be your own advocate not, nobody’s here to save you. I think somebody else said that earlier in a previous episode of like, nobody’s here to saving your business. And it’s so true, like you’re the one that has to stand up. You’re the one that has to speak for yourself. And that’s just such an important important key. So I love that so much. What are ways that independent business owners can lean into leadership? Yeah,

Laylee Emadi  

I mean, I think like, like we were talking about before, I feel like showing up even when it’s uncomfortable, I think is number one. So making sure that like I said, we consider ourselves leaders within our communities, maybe we just consider ourselves potential leaders, making that mindset shift of I Am A Leader, and what would a leader do? So I always like to say, if you’re not sure where to start, I always like to think about, if I were already a leader, what would I be doing right now? If I were already in a leadership position? Where would I be showing up? What types of things would I be offering to my audience? What types of things would I be offering to the community, and then go from there and actually take the time to create those things, and make them a reality. So taking yourself out of the equation and looking at it, like a third party, I think really helps show people where to kind of show up in the position that they want to fill.

Akua Konadu  

Oh, I love that so much. That’s very, very impactful. And I think again, one thing I’m learning too even about just like my own journey, as an independent business owner, and leaning more into my leadership skills, like, it’s a very humbling experience, where I feel like I’m always in a constant state of learning. And I find that very beautiful, right? Because I think a lot of the times, and when you see people in leadership positions you think people always have it figured out and none of us do. Sometimes I’m like, What am I doing, but I think it’s such a beautiful thing of like, that’s leaning into that just being so uncomfortable. And I’ve just realized that like, as a leader, as you’re leaning more into your leadership gifts, it’s extremely uncomfortable. But that’s like the beauty in that and being just open to learning and just always being a student, I think is just such an important thing. And you just your answer just totally reminded me of that. Another question that I want to ask is, I think people feel like they you have to have a big audience in order to be a leader. And so let’s talk about that. Like, how do you feel about that? Because I don’t think so. What are your thoughts?

Laylee Emadi  

Yeah, I love this. I love this question. I love this conversation, because it’s honestly something that I used to really struggle with as somebody who doesn’t have a massive following. Obviously, like my audience size has grown over the years, I’ve been in the industry for a long time. But I’m still like, in terms of if you want to talk numbers, my numbers are still smaller than a lot of thought leaders and a lot of community leaders that are out there. And I have never really struggled to fill my community events to feel like I’m making an impact or a difference. Because I think true leadership to me boils down to like, what is the one person that I’m trying to help? Who am I trying to impact? Who am I trying to reach? And am I making that happen? Like, have I seen that those people have been reached have been helped have found a home within my community? And if the answer is yes, then I don’t really care if I have 100,000 people following me or 100 people following me, because I think that once you start to really step into your leadership and step into whatever that looks like for you, if it looks like thought leadership, if it looks like community, community building or community growth, if it looks like speaking or, or, you know, mentoring or coaching, whatever that looks like for you, setting the intention of what what am I trying to actually accomplish for people? We’ve already talked about people over profit, we’ve already talked about being a service based leader, like what does that look like? And I’m able to make that work with the number of followers I have, I guarantee that it doesn’t matter how many followers you have, you can absolutely make that difference and that impact. I don’t think there’s anything wrong for striving to grow your audience in order to continue to make your impact grow and, and obviously scale as well. But I think once you start doing the work, you see that like that is such a secondary thought process. I have not really given it thought in years because as I’ve created these in person events, virtual events, and I’m looking out into the audience of actual faces of actual human beings, it truly kind of dissipates that comparison and that impostor syndrome, that I think I carried with me in the first like five, six, maybe even seven years of, of business ownership and of having my own independent businesses. But when I started showing up as a community leader and seeing those actual human beings being impacted, it really really does dissipate the rest of those negative feelings and the vanity metric bricks that come along with it.

Akua Konadu  

Oh my gosh, I love that so much. I think I think just as a business owner, I think that just offers people so much relief, like you can lead no matter where you are at. And as somebody who has attended your events, always happy to invest in your events, I never ever once think about, oh, yeah, this person has this many followers. Oh, yeah, they’re like, You know what I mean, I’d never ever once think about that at all, I just know how you have made me feel as a business owner on a regular basis whenever I attend your events, or when anything that you have to offer anytime I’ve invested. And I remember to we talked about this, I did tell you this, like when honey book, we had our Partner Summit, and your name was brought up at a table. And again, like your values came up of how much people loved you and essentially was like providing that good quality education, how you show up for people how you see people. And I think that again, it just goes to show you want people to say, like, what are people saying about you when you’re not in the room, right like, and that was a prime example of that of how you live things out through and through and how you just showed up in leadership. And I think that’s such a beautiful thing of again, like you don’t have to have a big audience, you can lead with where you’re at just I think, again, being more self aware and leaning into your gifts, and seeing what that can look like for you.

Laylee Emadi  

Honestly, that reminds me so much of of another point in the same regard, which is I want people to think about like, who is a mentor who is a leader that you look up to in your life. And I want you to think about like, are the leaders that you look up to in your everyday life? Are they Instagram famous people? Or are those just like people you enjoy following? are the leaders that you look up to in your life? Are they teachers that you’ve had, like, actual educational teachers that you’ve had? Are they family members, or friends of family members? Are they people who have over the years really impacted your life are those people the people that have a million followers on Instagram are the people who in real life have invested their time, energy, heart and mind into you in some way, shape or form? Likely, more likely than not? Those are the people who you feel so much more connected to than the big accounts that you follow online. So I think putting that into the perspective of like, who are the people who have made a difference for you, and who you look up to as a leader, I think helps so much comfort, comfort, those of us who maybe struggle with our like, quote unquote, numbers, and letting that stand in your way that should encourage you like, my high school teacher from, you know, gosh, many, many, many, many, many years ago, I still think of them as one of the most influential leaders in my life, you know, people who are in college again, decades ago. Those are the leaders that I think about who have been the most influential for me, not the massive accounts that I follow on the internet, who I can barely keep up with on Instagram anymore.

Akua Konadu  

Oh my gosh, I love that so much. And it just puts things into perspective. That’s so true. Like, who are you following? So I think it’s very easy when you see people that have these larger followings bigger audiences that you instantly peg them in your mind as a leader. I think how many times in the industry have we seen people where this conversation is happening all the time, and just being transparent, where, you know, people are like, Oh, my gosh, I’ve looked up to this person, I love them, follow them on social media consume all their products and services. And then when they finally meet them, they are heavily disappointed, almost in a sense, jaded about just everything about them that whole interaction. And and you know, and of course having empathy, right? Like, I totally understand, like you had your mind set up, and you already in your mind picture that this person was going to be this way. And there weren’t it’s, again, speaks to the fact that we’re all human. But it’s like, again, are they actually leader like, really think about the people in your life? And maybe they are a leader, but they’re just not the leader that for you, right? Like how who are the people that have actually made an impact in your life shown up in your daily life on a day to day basis, virtually in person, however, that looks like and I think that’s just such a good way to keep us grounded as entrepreneurs and just realizing that we’re all human at the end of the day. Yeah, absolutely. How do you invest in yourself as a leader?

Laylee Emadi  

Oh, gosh, I am like, I’m a huge huge proponent of of investing in yourself continually. For me, I do a lot I do as much coaching as I can, in whatever regard is, is kind of like feeling like my weak spot at the time. So I have as a speaking coach, myself, I have my own speaker coach as well. So I invest in coaching in that respect, I love in person events whenever I can attend them, you know, and that that can be difficult for a lot of people I know that in person is not always feasible for everybody. So I understand that but that’s something that for me has been really invaluable and that I’ll continue to do at least one a year if not more, depending on what I can make work. I love investing in myself by listening to podcasts like this one. I mean truly, getting as much wisdom and as much knowledge as I can through things like podcasts and books and you know, kicking it old school like read a book Look, you guys, like it’s hard and I get it, these are all things that take time, right? But investing your time, I think is even more precious than investing your, your money and your you know, anything else. So I think whatever you can do to kind of pull out specific time to feed into whatever you want to do as a leader, I think is a beautiful thing. So finding thought leaders who resonate with you and taking in their content. And then also like investing time into creating your own, and not just getting stuck in the cycle of consuming constantly, but also carving out the time to create. So for me, the way that I carve out that time is by creating opportunities to retreat. So I know that sounds funny like to retreat, but it’s like not just going on retreats that I necessarily like pay a coach for, but creating my own retreat, where I go off and for a week, I have the time to create versus consume. So that to me is a huge investment. Because typically it will be something that I leave my home for, you know, and being able to invest that kind of time and resource into myself, I think is something that I would recommend for every leader.

Akua Konadu  

Oh my gosh, I love that. So, so much, again, like making that time to consume that content, but also making that time to execute. I think, again, to your point, a lot of us are so guilty of this, where we will find ourselves just consuming content as much as we can, because I also think is coming from a place of being comfortable, right? Because now you’re like, oh, shoot, now I have to implement it. And it’s the most uncomfortable thing to do as a business owner execution. I know so many business owners struggle with that. And it’s a very uncomfortable thing. But again, like you’re doing these things to propel you forward, not only just as a business owner, but just as a person like Right, like just overall just becoming a more aligned, well rounded person with your values and how you want to show up in your life relationships in business. So this conversation has been amazing. And just so impactful lately, and I just appreciate you so much for your transparency. So the question we always love to close out with is what do you think is the biggest differentiator between the businesses that succeed and the ones that fail? Oh, my gosh, I

Laylee Emadi  

love this question so much. And there’s like so many answers, right? I think for me, the biggest differentiator is being willing to try to test to get curious to really experiment to let yourself experiment with new things and really lean into the entrepreneurial spirit that got you started in the first place. I think so often, we as entrepreneurs, who as we get more established over the years, especially in leadership, we tend to lean on those processes that we took so much time to create and cultivate, but at the end of the day, allowing ourselves the freedom to see Where can this lead that’s new, and what can we test out that’s different. I think that’s what sets us up for like, really big opportunities that wouldn’t have shown themselves otherwise. And being able to really grow along with that over the years creates longevity that you think comes from stability, but I think comes from being able to experiment and really try and test new things.

Akua Konadu  

I love that so much staying curious, experiment, lean into that because it’s true. Like, I think I’ve heard so many successful business owners say this as well. And I think it’s like you just don’t become attached to the results again, but those things don’t define you. You use those results to propel you forward. And that is just such such a key advice. So thank you so much lately for coming on the show. And for those who want to connect with you. Where can they find you?

Laylee Emadi  

Yeah, you guys can find me at Layli mighty.com. Or I spent a lot of time on Instagram probably more than I should at lately underscore Imani and I love love love connecting with people. So please feel free to hop in my DMs or my inbox anytime. And she’ll

Akua Konadu  

answer y’all. She’s always in her DMs to her point she’s a lot of my goodness, thank you so much lately for coming on the show and for those listening until next time. That ends our episode of The Independent Business podcasts. Everything we’ve discussed today can be found at [email protected]. Head to our website to access for show notes, relevant links and all the resources that you need to level up. And if you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast to make sure you never miss our future content. Drop us a review and leave our guests some love on social and thank you again for listening