What a Blogger, a Podcaster and a Consultant Have in Common
Episode 122: Show Notes
Today, we are bringing you something new, unique and kind of awesome. In this episode, you are going to get to hear from alumni of our program, The Strategy Academy, answer questions about their businesses, growth, mindsets and all the amazing things that have happened in their lives and businesses from taking our program earlier this year.
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They are all pretty awesome peeps. You are hearing from, not only a service-based person, but a blogger and a podcaster. We are giving you the full enchilada of what’s going on inside their businesses, where they were before and how The Strategy Academy has helped them ramp up. We have formatted it a bit differently today, so each guest’s story is summarized for you to get the most out of their experience with The Strategy Academy. Keep listening to hear more!
Sarah, Podcaster at Messy Roads To Motherhood
First, we’re chatting to our friend Sarah about all the amazing things The Strategy Academy has changed in her life. Sarah launched her podcast, Messy Roads To Motherhood at the end of September. She brings women on to share their stories about the difficult journeys of motherhood. Going in, Sarah had a very similar audience but she thought of it more from a product-based standpoint. She’s not doing products at all! She’s very interested in storytelling and getting other people’s stories out there. The Strategy Academy helped her mold it into what she wanted it to be. The program helped her figure out her WHY and WHAT she wanted to offer to the world. Through her podcast, she’s now building her expertise, trust, audience and a community.
Sarah dove into The Strategy Academy. During the first week, she had to think of all the nitty-gritty details. She had to realize why she was doing it, who she was doing it for and what it takes to earn their trust. She was able to hash out what was going to be successful, stick to her authentic idea and stay on track. She knew investing in education up front was going to help her succeed and The Strategy Academy did just that. It has helped her establish a foundation for her business to grow and be successful. The community behind The Strategy Academy helped her stay accountable and the positive push she got from all the other women really helped her reach her goals.
Melanie Sparks, Marketing and Content Strategist
Next, we have Melanie Sparks chatting to us about her business as a marketing and content strategist, copywriter, blogger and freelance writer and editor. She helps other bloggers and online business owners by providing them a strategy. She really likes to help other women be creative because she realized it’s painful not being able to express yourself. Before The Strategy Academy, Melanie was struggling a lot. She had been in a day job for over 17+ years and couldn’t envision what it would be like to not have a day job. Once she started to see other people having success and transition from corporate to online, she became more confident in what she wanted to do. The Strategy Academy gave her access to a community of women who are still supporting her up to this day.
Part of making the change for Melanie was being able to open up to other people and step out of her comfort zone; sharing both her successes and failures and showing vulnerability. For Melanie, one of the main benefits of The Strategy Academy was helping her dig into her WHY, discovering who her dreamies were and why she wanted to work with these kinds of women. That is the basis for everything she does since her business is mission-based. She also realized the importance of tracking her members and not hiding from her business. It’s been a learning process for Melanie but she’s now starting to look at the world as an entrepreneur. She’s also not playing small because she’s no longer just looking at her business as a hobby.
Dana, Part-Time Blogger at Something Good Blog
Last, we welcome Dana, a part-time blogger at Something Good Blog. On the blog, she talks more about personal style and, recently, budgeting for clothing and books. Dana hit a point where everything just plateaued. She realized she needed to change up her game so she enrolled in The Strategy Academy. She wanted to find a focal point and figure out where she had gone wrong or how she could turn things around. She needed to focus her energy and move forward. One of the biggest takeaways for Dana actually came during the second group phone call. By this point, they were 4 weeks in and someone asked the question, “should they have everything done at that point?”. Everyone in the group was so relieved to hear “no, everything didn’t have to be done yet”. She realized she could take a deep breath, slow down and focus on what’s important. One of her biggest lessons has been learning it’s okay to accomplish things slowly. It taught her to focus on one area and building it up before moving on to the next area.
Getting the permission to slow down changed Dana’s life. The first thing Dana really started was going back to week one and focusing on her MVP. She didn’t know what an MVP was (Most Viable Product) or how deep it was. She needed to define it for herself. Midway through the course, Dana ended up joining the Facebook Everything Course. By blending these two, she came up with the project she’s currently working on. She’s planning on executing a challenge and seeing how it all works. Dana enjoyed the group chats and they made her feel part of a team. To know having all these questions is normal, she felt comfortable asking for help. For Dana, The Strategy Academy has everything. It covers building your business and refining what you have from the ground up.
Highlights
First, we’re chatting to Sarah about her podcast, Messy Roads To Motherhood. [0:03:27.0]
Next, we have Melanie Sparks chatting to us about her business as a marketing and content strategist, copywriter, blogger, and freelance writer and editor. [0:21:22.0]
Last, we welcome Dana, a part-time blogger at Something Good Blog. [0:35:54.0]
KEY TOPICS
Messy Roads To Motherhood, Marketing and Content Strategy, Blogging at Something Good Blog
