Today on the show, we are excited to welcome Abbey Ashley, Founder of The Virtual Savvy. Abbey has helped aspiring virtual assistants launch and grow their own at-home businesses from scratch. She started her own virtual assistant business as a new mom and was able to double her salary from her full-time corporate job in just 30 days! She has since gone on to grow a seven-figure business with 19 employees and certainly has some key insights to share about how to hire to scale. It's now her passion to help others start their own VA businesses so they too can taste the freedom and flexibility of entrepreneurship.

She is currently building a brand new platform, which you will hear about towards the end of the interview, that is going to make hiring so much easier, especially for creative entrepreneurs, connecting you with virtual assistants that are going to stick around and be the right fit for you and your company. In today’s episode, we’re talking about the hiring process, particularly how to hire for a culture fit over a skill fit. We think that that is one of the most remarkable things that Abbey has unlocked within her own business, and it has definitely been one of the key elements that has factored into her incredibles success.

We discuss how to identify your brand culture, how to speak that into existence within your team, and how to support your team through that journey, as well as how to hire for the perfect fit, of course. Whether you are ready to hire your first VA or dip your toes into hiring employees, this episode is full of practical tips that will be beneficial to you, no matter where you are on that journey. Make sure to tune into this insightful interview with The Virtual Savvy Founder and powerhouse entrepreneur, Abbey Ashley!

On the Strategy Hour Podcast today, we are joined by the wonderful and amazing Rachel Green! She is one of the first people we connected with when we were starting out in the online business world and she has been in business for the last seven years, helping hundreds of businesses grow and succeed. As a brand strategist, designer and educator, Rachel has generated over 5 million dollars in sales for her clients and her focus on empowering female business owners is truly inspiring!

In this episode, we are breaking down what a brand strategy is, why it is important to start there and the questions that you need to ask when figuring this all out. Rachel offers some great thoughts to work through in order to help you make sure your story and brand are pushing you forward. She is all about progression, not just pretty branding and logos! We really respect Rachel's perspective on the strategic part of branding and we know you will all find it very useful. So buckle up and let's get into some strategy!

Today, we are so excited to have this conversation, mostly because one of our favorite things in the world is to either learn, do something, or unlock a strategy, and then, in two seconds, turn around and start talking about it! We don’t like to let things fester for too long and want our listeners to take a peek behind the curtain as quickly as possible! Some of you might have seen on Emylee’s personal Instagram (@emyleesays) or our stories @bossproject, that she just did a rebrand! It’s so different in an amazing kind of way!

Part of why Abagail loves it is because for the first time in forever, she didn’t do it herself, so it turned out nothing like it would if she had done it. It’s modern, woo, and earthy! For the first time in forever, Emylee was the client, so today, she gives some behind the scenes insights into how her rebranding process went. She talks about how long it took, what she did herself as far as preparation, the relationship she had with her amazing designer, and a whole lot more!

In the creative entrepreneur world, there are so many talents and you guys are doing great! But the one thing we’re seeing, and we’ve done the same thing, is that design work sometimes falls a little short. You might be a photographer, fine artist or wedding planner but do not necessarily have the expertise when it comes to your branding — that’s a set of skills entirely on its own. It could be an email header, a social media announcement or an infographic you need to whip up, and it’s not as easy as it looks. Graphic designers are trained to know what works and have a sharp eye to identify off-balance designs, but we regular folk don’t have that same skill. 

So, today Emylee gets to direct questions at Abagail who, as you all know, is a kick-ass designer. Wearing her designer hat, she will advise you about representing your brand in the most professional manner even though you lack professional skills. As much as we focus on teaching you guys about increasing profit, the way you show your brand to the world can be a make or break aspect. The bottom line is this: when you use the same styles, colors and fonts consistently, you become recognized as a brand, and that is your goal. 

Today on the show we welcome Michelle Knight – mother, wife, world traveler and storyteller. Michelle is also a branding coach and the founder of Brand Merry, where she works with female entrepreneurs to create an authentic, captivating and money-making brands through the power of stories. Today we are breaking down the different types of stories that Michelle sees as most effective in the online space, as well as how you can literally integrate yourself, your background, your purpose and all the little stories that make you an amazing human being – into your brand.

Michelle shares some tricks, tips and tactics on how you can outline really big stories, break them down, share them authentically and how to truly draw a connection between your audience so that you can build trust – which in turn, builds sales and a money-making business! This episode is really actionable and is going to spark a ton of ideas for you and your business. Everyone has a story to tell, right? So grab a notebook and start brainstorming yours here with us today.

Today on the show we welcome Jen Miller. Jen is a brand strategy consultant and is super pumped about helping women build their brands. In 2003 Jen also started a blog, interviewing female founders to discover how she might be able to build a brand of her own. Jen has learned from the best and the proof is in the pudding! Jen is really great at helping entrepreneurs ask themselves the right questions; questions that will help them lay the foundation of their brand and get them headed on the right path from day one.

In this episode, we are talking about the importance of brand personality and how it is so much more than just your logo, your color scheme and your website. We’re also talking about how you can take care of people in a way that serves your brand well, how to put yourself out there, dressing the part and being a little vulnerable with your own self. At the end of the day, it boils down to authenticity. But authenticity with intention. So, whether you’re starting a brand from ground zero or trying to get your brand back on track, by the end of this episode, you’ll have some awesome tools to get you going with

Today on the show we welcome Autumn Witt Boyd. Autumn is an experienced lawyer who helps ambitious and creative business owners, such as yourself, reach their big scary goals. She owns the law office of Autumn Witt Boyd where she guides online and e-commerce businesses as they grow. She has special expertise in copyright and trademark issues and her firm offers full legal support to creative businesses. Autumn is also the host of The Legal Road Map podcast which teaches business owners to protect their rights and stay out of legal hot water!

A lot of entrepreneurs and business owners tend to shy away from legal conversations, particularly when it comes to copyrights. These situations can get complicated, awkward and are often just downright confusing! But they shouldn’t have to be. This is why we’ve brought Autumn on - to simplify our lives and ensure that we’re all on the right track and protecting our booties! In this episode, you’ll hear more about the biggest legal mistakes that creative and online business owners are making and get some special insights related to copyright, trademarks and dealing with copycats. To top it all off, you’ll get to hear Emylee go off on a tangent about people stealing our sh*t!

Today on the podcast we have Ashlyn Carter of Ashlyn Writes. Are you multi-passionate? Well, this boss babe is and she has grown her business as both a copywriter and a calligrapher. She took her background as a corporate agent working with corporate clients and transitioned that into her current business, working with big name clients. We are so excited for you to hear how she’s been able to keep both her knowledge from her corporate days and add that onto her creative passion with calligraphy.

Do you want to have a business that serves two different people? Today we’re going through how to navigate your homepage, how to set up your services, products and offerings, and how to manage your social media and your email list if you’re talking to two different people. If that’s you, keep listening to find out more!

Today we are joined by Tara Bosler of T. Bosler Writing. She is a copywriter, y’all, for creatives just like you. We are super excited for you to learn from Tara and we want you to have your ears perked up because there’s a funny noise in this audio that we are not going to cut out and we want you to try to guess what it is before she tells us. Because to me, it doesn’t sound anything like what it actually is. Suspenseful!

Inside this episode, we are talking about how to be authentic in your writing and how to use your conversations with not only your friends, but also your clients, as intel to use on the things that you spit out into the world. We are talking about whether or not it’s okay to be grammatically incorrect and we get into some details about how to hire a copywriter. We know this sounds simple, but Tara breaks it down to make it even better for you inside your business. We can’t wait for you to jump in and start writing some copy, and we are super excited for you to listen to this episode!

Today on the podcast, we have Claire Swinarski, a copywriter and content marketer for creative entrepreneurs. She has been featured on the Washington Post, Seventeen Magazine, Bridal Guide, and many other amazing magazines and publications around the country. Claire is based out of Wisconsin and she pretty much loves burrito bowls, so we like her. She is a girl after our own burrito loving hearts.

In today’s episode, Claire is going to break down a lot of stuff that many of us need help with, like copyrighting. First, we are figuring out how to dive into knowing your ideal client, because you have to start there before you even know what to write in the first place. Next, Claire walks us through the pages that you probably should have on your website and others that you shouldn’t even worry about, as well as how to actually break down what goes on that website itself.

Have you been aiming to become the face of your business, but just not sure how exactly to do it? Well, you are in luck! In this episode we have our friend Mallika from MikiFoto with us and that is precisely what she is coming on to share with you guys today. We got to meet Mallika last year at The Savvy Experience and have loved watching as she shifted her business to do more lifestyle branded headshots and photography for small businesses and creative entrepreneurs.

In our chat with Mallika, we jump into the importance of being the face of your business, exactly what you should be doing to find the right photographer for you, how to prepare for your shoot, what to wear, and how to make these photos last longer than three months. We also get into the most important shots you need for your business so that you can take away from this photo session exactly what you need to prosper online. We are super excited for you to listen more, because she’s legit, guys. So get excited!