the bossbabe podcast - 275. Amy Porterfield on Leaving Your 9-5 In 2023
Episode Date: February 28, 2023Have you ever thought of leaving your 9-5? Are you ready to get more out of your career and be your own boss, but you have no idea where to start? You’re not alone, we’ve been there! It can be sca...ry, but we’re here to walk you through that transition with confidence and clarity. On this week’s episode, entrepreneur and online marketing strategist, Amy Porterfield, reveals her journey to becoming an entrepreneur after leaving her corporate job working for Tony Robbins. She shares her top tips and advice on starting a side hustle, leaving your 9-5, and creating your dream career from scratch. Plus – Amy shares a sneak peek into her amazing new book, “Two Weeks Notice: Find the Courage to Quit Your Job, Make More Money, Work Where You Want, and Change the World.” If you’ve been considering starting a side hustle or leaving your 9-5 to start a business of your own, this episode was made for you! Highlights: How Amy Porterfield went from corporate yes girl to kickass entrepreneur and author. What you can do right now to prepare yourself to quit your job ( + what to do if your partner doesn’t fully support your career change). Amy’s expert opinion on the most effective marketing strategies you should use in 2023. Links: Two Weeks Notice by Amy Porterfield Follow: Amy Porterfield: @amyporterfield bossbabe: @bossbabe.inc Danielle Canty: @daniellecanty Mentioned in this episode: Join our private, online community of female entrepreneurs where you can connect, build and grow.
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A boss babe is unapologetically ambitious and paves the way for herself and other women to rise, keep going and fighting on.
She is on a mission to be her best self in all areas.
It's just believing in yourself.
Confidently stepping outside her comfort zone to create her own vision of success. Hello and welcome to the Boss Babe podcast, the place where
we share with you the real behind the scenes of building successful businesses, achieving
peak performance and learning how to balance it all. I'm Danielle Canty, Boss Babe co-founder and your host for today's episode. So give me a yes. Actually,
where are you going to send me this yes? I'm not quite sure, but just nod your head along if you
have ever thought about leaving your nine to five. If you've ever had this feeling like, you know
what? I'm just ready for more. I'm ready to be my own boss. I'm ready to make a change in my life. I don't know
what it is, but I just want to do something different. I want to have more impact. I just
want to wake up every single day doing something that I love. Well, if you're having those feelings,
first of all, you are not alone. Both Amy and I completely changed our careers. She actually
worked for Tony Robbins. As you guys know,
I was a chiropractor. We both left on nine to five and we have not looked back since.
So we also understand that although it's an amazing thing to do, it can be scary. It can
be really scary. Like how am I going to do this? How am I going to take this leap? And the good
news is we dive into everything in this podcast. So if you're listening to this being like,
I want to leave my nine to five, but I don't know how. In this conversation with Amy, we both share our stories,
but also we're going to ask you, what are you good at? What problem would you want to solve?
Where are people spending money? And what brings you joy in 2023? What are you excited about
to light you up? We're going to dive into all of this. So if you are considering leaving your nine to five, if you want to start a side hustle, first of all, listen to this episode.
Second of all, make sure you are following bossbabe.inc and you have your notifications
on on Instagram because we give you so many free resources, so many new opportunities that you can
be listening to, downloading to to we want to help you
leave your nine to five that's why we exist we are here we are created by entrepreneurs we are
here to support women being entrepreneurs and we just want to have your back so if you're not
already got notifications on go do that if you haven't already subscribed to any of our freebies
that are in this description notes go and do that as well and last but not least enjoy this episode
amy porterfield is an absolute badass i love her she gives so much knowledge so much information
and you are going to love her book two weeks notice which she also shares about in this podcast
okay until next time i'm going to leave you to dive in enjoy and i will see you here next week as well Amy you don't know this but before I actually
started Boss Babe I remember following you you and Maria on TV and I was like following your
content so having you on the Boss Babe podcast is a very surreal full circle moment for me it makes
my day especially when I think about women like you who are doing big things to think that you
found me early on is like the hugest compliment. But this is like also what's so, so incredible. And I always like, whenever
I'm telling my story, I'm like, you see me here now, but that was not my journey. I was a chiropractor.
I had no one, no understanding of the online space. I didn't even have a social media account
for the longest time. And I think, you know, your past does not dictate your future. And I know your
story is really similar because, you know, people see you now, top rated podcast, hundreds of
thousands of subscribers, millions of products sold and huge, huge business, but that wasn't
the case. And you're actually a corporate gal. Yes. I always say that I was the perfect corporate
yes girl. Like you told me to jump,
I would say how high, because I love to get the promotions and climb the corporate ladder and,
and really just do a good job and get that great feedback. I was good at being in corporate. I
liked the regular paychecks, the benefits, the paid vacations. I liked security as well. And I
think a lot of people listening can relate
to that. Like they want to feel secure in whatever it is they're doing. However, I was in corporate
from the day I left college. And then my last corporate job was with Tony Robbins. And so for
almost seven years, I got to work on the content that Tony does on stage. So Unleash the Power
Within, Date with Destiny. If you know Tony, you know those events. I got to work on that content. It was an amazing job, but here's what happened.
I was in my last corporate job and Tony brought in a bunch of business owners that were running
businesses online. Some of the people you know, Brendan Brouchard was there, Frank Kern,
Eben Pagan, Jeff Walker, really big names in our industry, all guys.
There wasn't no women.
So no women.
And I was asked to come into the meeting to take notes.
So I literally wasn't even at the main table.
I was at a side table.
And Tony went around and said, tell me about your businesses because he was getting more
in the online space.
And all I heard from these guys was freedom.
They worked when they wanted, where they
wanted, how they wanted. They weren't on somebody else's time or someone else's dime. And in that
moment, I thought, I have never been free. I have always worked for somebody else. And if you go way
back, my first boss was my dad. He was strict. He called the shots, his way or the highway.
So I've always had a boss. And in that moment, I thought, I don't want a boss anymore. I want to do my own thing. But I looked at my friend who was also in
the meeting and I told her, you're a writer. You have a skillset that could translate into
entrepreneurship. I have nothing. I have nothing that could create a business around, which I was
very wrong. But I think a lot of people listening right now, if they're still in a nine to five job,
that thought of, yeah, but I couldn't do this as a business. I couldn't,
I have nothing to teach. Have you ever felt that way? Oh my God, completely. I remember
because my journey was not dissimilar, but I did like a vocational degree. I did study to be a
chiropractor, which is an in-person skill set. So I'm like, how can I, when I went through my whole like, you know, crisis around, oh my goodness, I really don't want to be in this chiropractic industry.
I don't want to be trading time for money.
I don't want to be in a low, I was like tied to a room for 15 minute appointments.
It drove me insane.
And I remember thinking and having this realization that, oh my goodness, I want something changed.
Be like, wow, how am I ever, ever going to like create that change? goodness I want something changed be like wow how am I ever
ever going to like create that change so I'm actually really curious so you had that aha
moment which I feel like is probably the you know 50% of the way there right the next 50% is like
more you know clawing that back and being more practical but that you have to want it first which
I don't think happens for everybody right they admit they don't even see these aha moments. So you have this aha moment, like I'm,
I want to, I want to leave the corporate world. I want to start my own business,
but what did it actually look like from that? Because mine then took me two years.
Okay. I'm curious what yours is like. I'm glad you said that for me, it took a full year for sure.
And it could easily take in two years, but I put together this little roadmap that for me, it took a full year for sure. And it could have easily taken two years, but I
put together this little roadmap that helped me. And I outlined that in my book, two weeks notice,
I talk about having a roadmap to get to the day you actually leave. So for me, here's what it
looked like. I was in that meeting. I realized I want freedom. I want to be my own boss. I have
no idea what I'll do. So what I did for like the next six months is I started to
explore things. This is the fun part. I started to take digital courses around different topics.
I started listening to podcasts that I'd never listened to before. I started going to conferences
that was new to me. So even though I was a nine to five employee in the mornings, nights, weekends,
I started to think like an entrepreneur and started to explore all these different things.
And then about six months in, I thought, okay, I could teach online marketing because that's
essentially what I was doing at Robbins. I could teach this, but I really have no idea how I would
do that. And if I don't choose an exit date, I'm never going to leave. So at that point, I said,
I'm going to choose a date and I'm going to commit to it. So I chose my exit date and
I put it on a post-it note and I teach this in the book. I put it on a mirror, but I didn't just look
at it every day. I asked the question, what do I need to do today to get me closer and ready for
that date? So whether it was, I needed to call someone or listen to a podcast or read a book or
whatever it might be every day, I did something to get me closer to that end date.
And they always say that if you want real self-confidence, like if you want to really believe in yourself, you have to stick to the promises you made for yourself. So that was one
of the very big first promises I made to myself. I am leaving on this date. And so then I worked
up to the six months of leaving. And what that looked like was putting together a side hustle.
So I started a side hustle first.
I did social media for small businesses on the weekends and nights because I needed to
prove to myself that I could actually make money in a different way.
I didn't believe in myself at all, but actually backing up a little bit, the way that I got
through that year is I got really clear on my why, why I wanted to leave.
And for me, it was really selfish.
I didn't want a boss.
I didn't want to be told what to do, when to do it or how to do it.
I wanted freedom.
That was my why.
Now today, 14 years later, my why looks different.
I wake up every morning for that woman in the cubicle that knows she's made for more
and doesn't know that there's this whole world out there, like what we're doing. So I think of her every day,
but in the beginning, I was thinking of me. And I think it's okay to be selfish in the beginning,
but you got to get clear on your why. Totally. I would love to just explore
the feelings side of all this, because you've said a few things that I just want to loop back to.
And making that decision and planting your flag in and the destination I think is really powerful I always
say you don't need to know how you're going to go from LA to New York you don't need to know the
exact map but you need to know that you have to keep heading east and I think like setting that
date is really really powerful but I really want to understand how you came overcame a lot of the probably nervousness
apprehension around this like what you were I know it's a while ago but what were your emotions
going through that because even though it was a while ago for me they are so real and raw like I
literally remember being terrified I always tell the story about being on and off my first Facebook
live before anyone even came on. It was 57 seconds
long. I found it the other day. It was so good. That is good. But it's just like, I want us to
always remember what those feelings were like, because I know someone listening to this is
having his exact same like trepidations and nervousness right now. But I want to be that
reassurance that it's okay. It's okay. And it's so normal. So from the
minute that I realized I wanted to quit from the day I left, I was full of overwhelming fear. Like
what if this doesn't work? And I think what's natural for us, it comes up. What if this doesn't
work? And what will people think of me? That is a big one. When you're starting to think about
being your own boss, if you start
to tell people, what you'll get is people will be like, don't do that. That's very risky. Or
have you thought about this? What if that doesn't work out? So the first thing is I had a lot of
fear, a lot of overwhelm, but I knew early on not to tell everybody of my plans because I don't know
if I would have continued to do it if I heard all the negative
feedback. Sarah Blakely of Spanx tells this story that when she decided to cut the feet out of her
pantyhose and create Spanx for the first time, she said, I didn't tell anyone because if they
told me it wouldn't work in those days, I would have believed them. And I really do think that
was my story as well. So I only told three people. I told my husband, my best friend,
and my mom who thinks I can do anything. No one else got to know of my plan for a good year until
I left because I knew their negative feedback was going to be about them. Yeah. I was literally
reading a book the other week and it was sharing that. So for anyone who does get negative feedback,
I think we should touch on this because it is a really important thing that most, what you're trying to do when you're starting a
business is what most people want to do, but are too scared to do. And they project their own fears
onto you. And it's not really that they don't believe in you. It's that they don't believe in
themselves. They don't think they can do it. So they can't actually get their mind around the
fact that somebody else close to them could do it. Absolutely. So they're going to project all
of that on you and they do it lovingly. They care. They don't want you to be hurt, but it just doesn't serve.
So first you don't need to tell a lot of people you could keep it close to your chest in the
beginning. And I think that's actually really valuable. But when I think about how I felt
during those times there, there's this voice that came up for me a lot. Like,
who are you to think that
you can go out on your own? It was that negative mean girl that we all kind of have in us at times
that like, I didn't believe in myself. I had no proof that this was going to work. I'd never done
anything entrepreneurial, but again, I kept coming back to that. Why I would say when my worries
would knock me down, my why would always pick me back up through that whole year of getting to that why. I would say when my worries would knock me down, my why would always
pick me back up through that whole year of getting to that end date. But yeah, lots of fear, lots of
nervousness. I was very afraid of being judged, of people not believing in me. And overall, I just
thought, what if I crash and burn? Like what if I have to grovel back for my job? Like how embarrassing.
But I think my why was compelling enough that I thought, well, then I'll grovel back for my job? Like, how embarrassing. But I think my why was compelling enough that I thought, well, then I'll grovel back for
my job.
Like, worst case scenario.
You know, there's this concept that I talk a lot about, and it's called the capacity
for zero.
And the capacity for zero means that you're willing to start over from scratch.
Zero social media following, zero email, people on your email list, zero dollars in your bank. Are you willing to reinvent yourself, start over? And the more
you have a capacity for zero, the more likely you are to succeed because you're like, I'll burn it
down and build it back up if I have to. And that's where it's most powerful. So those listening,
I want you to ask yourself, do you have a capacity for zero? Are you willing to start from scratch?
Because you had to start from scratch, right? I had to, and you're in a totally different field.
Like, let's talk about that for a second, because I went from marketing to marketing. You went from
chiropractor to totally different. Like, how did you even think you could bridge that gap? Like,
how did that even happen? I I didn't know I
could okay you know what I think it was my why because the you're either pulled towards something
which your motivation is like let's say the sun right you're pulled towards a vision of a life
being better yeah right and that can be strong enough to get someone through it. Or where you're at is so painful, you are pushed from it.
And I felt like where I was at was so painful for my life.
I was just like, it was like I was sat on a pin.
And I was like, I just have to get off this pin.
Like I don't even know how I'm going to do it, what this is going to look like.
But I just know where I'm at is so painful.
And I also did have faith in my ability to learn.
I think one of my greatest gifts is my ability to be able to ask questions. And I always say,
I'm really good at being able to look stupid. Like I wouldn't shy away from asking a question.
I would literally. That's hugely powerful right there. I feel like that's one of your super
powers. If you don't care about looking stupid or asking the silly question, then you can't lose because you're going to always stay in the game and figure
it out. So, you know, in my book, Two Weeks Notice, I literally map out the entire marketing
plan to start a business. But I think what's most important is getting clear on your why
and understanding all the self-doubt, all the triggers that are going to come up,
and you can still keep moving forward.
Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite
all-in-one platform, Kajabi.
You know I've been singing their praises lately
because they have helped our business run so much smoother
and with way less complexity, which I love.
Not to mention our team couldn't be happier
because now everything is in one place.
So it makes collecting data, creating pages, collecting
payment, all the things so much simpler. One of our mottos at Boss Babe is simplify to amplify
and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year. So of course I needed to share it here with you.
It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your business, you know,
get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things as smooth as possible I definitely recommend Kajabi
to all of my clients and students so if you're listening and haven't checked out Kajabi yet
now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering Boss Babe listeners a 30-day free trial
go to kajabi.com slash boss Babe to claim your 30-day free trial.
That's Kajabi.com slash Boss Babe. Can I ask you a question about the three people you did tell?
Yes. So your husband, your mom, and your best friend. Yes. How did your partner react? Okay,
such a great question. So when I told my husband, Hobie, he was incredibly enthusiastic about it,
but only because I was working so many long hours.
We were newly married and I hardly ever saw him.
I used to travel a lot for my job.
So he was like, yeah, let's change it up.
However, when I talk to a lot of my students, their partners aren't as supportive.
So I feel like I was very for how he reacted, but a lot of spouses.
So if it's the woman telling the husband, I think I want to quit my job. It's not that the husbands don't believe in their wives. What happens is they get very
scared about the household. Well, what about us paying the bills? What if this doesn't work?
Can't you just kind of dabble with that, but still stay in your job? And so I think it's really hard
to move forward when your partner doesn't fully support what you're going to do. But in the book,
I get a little controversial and I say, do it anyway. Even if you're married and your partner doesn't fully support what you're going to do. But in the book, I get a little controversial and I say, do it anyway. Even if you're married and your partner doesn't believe
that this is a good move, you're going to have to continue to move forward or you will always
regret it. You will never know. And so one of the things I talk about is sitting down with your
partner and explaining to them why it matters so much to you and what it will do for your family.
Because you know, having freedom to work when you want, where you want, how you want,
and not being tied to somebody else's dream, you get to create this most amazing life ever.
And your partner is going to get to benefit from that. I always say like the worst day as an
entrepreneur. And in the book, I tell some stories that there were some very hard days. I almost lost my business to a partnership that wasn't working out. And so I literally thought I
would lose the entire business. And that was one of my worst days. It's still better than the best
day in your nine to five job because you're free. And so even if you don't have a supportive
partner, you can find a supportive friend. You could find people that will support you.
Do you know what was my biggest inspiration with starting a business too, was that life is
hard. Like entrepreneurship is difficult, right? But I don't think it's any more difficult than
anything else I was doing in my life. But the highs, the opportunity and the potential for
highs were far greater than I knew I would ever experience
via being employed by someone. And likewise, so were probably the lows. Like I feel like the,
the troughs and the peaks are like of different magnitudes, but that also is what makes it really
fun. And I think one thing for me was like, I was, didn't want the glass ceiling and I think one thing for me was like I was didn't want the glass ceiling and I didn't want someone
else dictating what I could earn or what I that I think that was mine yours was mine was freedom a
bit to the point of getting out of this you know location independence but two it was like I don't
want to ask after asking for pay rise right like I'm actually not very assertive in those things I'm like really struggling like my
asks or and I don't really like I hate conflict and I hate that kind of thing so I just like to
do so kind of what you're talking about the partner thing I never went and asked for permission I was
married at the time I just went and did the thing and I was just like and then obviously you know
didn't end up working out but I was just like I and then obviously, you know, didn't end up working out, but I was
just like, I don't, I don't really like having those, those, those conversations. I just go and
do. I kind of love that. Like you, what is it like ask for, don't ask for permission, ask for
forgiveness or whatever. I'm all about that. I think that's a bad way of navigating through life. But I love what you said about the fact you just did it no matter what, because you knew
you had this desire in you and we, no one knows if it's going to work out or not, but
it's the possibility.
The opportunity is too big to not at least explore it.
And I think that's, what's so cool about your story that you just went for it.
And I think that's how most women are going to view this.
Like, I'm just going to figure this out one way or another.
I feel like if you have that thing with inside you, that is, if you have been thinking about
doing this and like watching other people, just know that feeling doesn't go away.
It's not going to go away it's not gonna go away
it's just gonna get bigger yes so like actually listen to it sooner versus later because i
personally feel like if you try and shut that down you're actually shutting down part of your
identity if that is within you there ain't no way you're stopping that no way whatsoever and i got
to get back to one of the things you said. Imagine, so those
listening that are still in a nine to five job, imagine never having to ask for a raise for the
rest of your life. Like, amen, right? Or a title change or anything like that. That's why I just
love entrepreneurship so much because no matter what you call the shots, you know, like you said,
entrepreneurship is hard and I've had my hard days for sure. And sometimes I'm like way too overworked and I'll complain to my husband,
like I'm exhausted. This is too much. And he'll jokingly say, maybe you should talk to your boss
about that. I think she could probably help you out. And it's true. I'm like, oh, I'm creating
this chaos so I can change it. That's not always true in a nine to five job. Totally. And it's like you say, you're like, sometimes you can just work as hard in a nine
to five, but you're not even taking, I mean, I have a friend who's a lawyer. Her hours are
ridiculous. I'm like, you work harder than me. Isn't that crazy? Right? That's another thing.
Oh my gosh, you're smarter than me. So I'm like, you really need to be thinking about this change.
Yes, for sure.
As an entrepreneur, do you find yourself wanting everyone to be an entrepreneur?
I think my biggest passion is for women to build wealth and not to have all of their
eggs in one basket.
So you mentioned earlier, you start with a side hustle.
That was exactly what I did.
You know, I was sharing that it took me two years. basket. So you mentioned earlier, you start with a side hustle. That was exactly what I did.
You know, I was sharing that it took me two years. It's because in 2016, my dad had a skiing accident.
That's when I knew that I didn't want to do the rest of my career in chiropractic,
even though I'd gone to school, even though I'd got that debt. Like I was just like, this is not where I'm going to live out my next best part of my career. But like I also shared
with you, I didn't know anything about
online space I didn't even have an Instagram account in 2016 wow and so I had to go through
this whole journey around like well what does an online business look like and I remember thinking
well okay I could do this coaching I could do Amazon and then as part of that that's when I went
in 2017 to a Brendan Bouchard event which is where I met Natalie. I was really ambitious and none of my friends were.
They did not get me at all.
So this thing I'm sharing about,
like if you have that within you,
what you probably also find is lots of people around you don't.
And that becomes a really difficult place to be
because you're like, wait a minute,
I feel like this, but you don't feel like this.
Like this is confusing.
Am I weird?
Am I greedy?
Am I odd?
Like, why am I not content and you're content?
So that sent me into a little bit of a, you know, not a spiral, but like a pondering of
like, okay, I'm different.
So if I'm different, how can I find people who are like me?
And then that's where Boss Babe was born and the society and our communities were born
because we realized that you might grow up in friendship groups and towns where people
think one way, but when you're different different you need to find those people who do think differently to
you because you know majority of the population not entrepreneurs and so to find that is really
really powerful so once then I'd realized that I went into the side hustle which was then okay I'm
still I'm not quite in chiropractic I got a good salary from that so how do I learn on the side and
how do I explore and how do I try things and, I felt a ton of stuff before I like found my
jam, but I felt like what I needed to go through was, you know, because like you say, you kind of
went marketing to marketing. I was going from chiropractic to something completely different.
Totally different.
I had to be a little bit more like nimble and learning and failing. And I just realized that,
you know, just like a child was learning to walk,
I had to learn to like find what my steps were
and I might fall over.
But the important thing was that I got back up again
and I just kept going.
And I knew I needed my salary to support that exploration.
Yes.
So I must've spent probably in those early stages,
probably about a good few,
a good like several thousands of dollars in failures. But then I'm so glad that you told your story. I've been
interviewing a lot for the book and I don't get to hear the other person's story, but you, who you
were before you left your job is exactly why I wrote the book two weeks notice, because you didn't
know exactly what
you wanted to do. And most people don't. That is so normal. You've got to experiment. So I talk
about this idea of coming up with your sweet spot. So a lot of people won't start their business
because they're not sure what would I even do? What would I create? One, what you did is you
experimented and you tried a bunch of things. And if you think of the sweet spot, there's four
quadrants. The first quadrant is what are you good at? What do people ask you about?
What do you do in your job? What do you do in your personal life that you're just really good at?
Like I got to come here and your studio is at your house and you're really good at interior design.
Like that could be another of your job, just for the record. If this boss babe thing doesn't work,
you got another thing. But you want to start looking at like, what are you good at? What comes natural? And so there's a few things
that will come up for most women when they ask that. But the second quadrant is what problem
do you want to solve? Like, what would you love to help people resolve or get to in terms of their
finish line? What could you solve for people? And you want to align with what you're good at,
with what you want to solve and the results you want to help people get. So you start to think about that.
The third quadrant is where are people spending money? So if you start to think about what you're
good at and what you might want to create a business around, are there books about it?
Are there other people marketing in that arena, which is a good sign? Are people paying money
for that? And if they are great, and this is where I've got to stop and say, a lot of women will say, but it's already
been done before.
What I want to do is already being done by XYZ.
And I remind women that there's 7 billion people in this world and there is enough room
for all of us.
And women like you and me want to make more room at the table.
We don't want to push women out.
We want to invite women in.
And so I really do see that shift happening more and more. So just because one woman's doing it doesn't mean you can't do it as
well. And then the fourth quadrant is what brings you joy? Because we can't be creating a business
around something that we don't absolutely love. So when you start to think about what you're good at,
problems you want to sell, want to solve, what people pay for and what brings you joy,
you start to kind of develop your sweet
spot. So I wanted to share that because there's some women here that do believe that they don't
have anything that could be a business. Everybody does. I love that you shared that. And there's
so much like good stuff in that. So I feel like people should rewind this and listen to that again
and do that. And just like you you were saying the biggest hurdle that most people
need to take is not in the skill set is not in the strategy it's the mindset that I can do this
amen I've started saying like this Pareto's principle which is like you know eight two
it's like applies to customers that eight percent of your revenue will come from 20 percent of your
customers right but I think that business is about 80%
mindset and 20% skill. I honestly believe that anybody can be an entrepreneur if they have the
right mindset. Like it's not, I am not the smartest in the room. I'm sure you would say you're the
smartest in the room you go into. The key thing about being an entrepreneur is about being able
to inspire and to lead and to build, you know, a team around you. Like,
I love it when my team are like, no, Danielle, I don't think that's a good idea. Oh my goodness.
You're right. Your idea is better. Let's do your idea. Like that's what it's about.
And I just think when people realize that it's not about how smart you are or the things that
you know, it's your ability to fall down and get back up again. It's about your ability to ask questions,
your ability to receive feedback,
your ability to try the thing and get it wrong
and then tweak it and see it as not as a failure,
but as a learning.
That's the biggest thing that I think
sets successful entrepreneurs against
not successful entrepreneurs.
It's true.
It's like doing it even when you're scared,
doing it even when not everybody in your life is going to believe you can do it, going for it no matter
what I think is literally what separates us from anyone who doesn't give it a shot. And you're
right. We're not the smartest people in the room and we're not extra special. And people could say,
well, you had this or you had that. I don't believe it. I mean, if you got in my head at that time,
you'd think this woman's never going to make it because she's absolutely terrified.
So that I know for sure. Yeah. I love it. Okay. So the thing we haven't called me,
we're both terrified. Terrified. Yes. Terrified. Did you worry about what other people would think?
That was a big one for me. Yes, I did because I didn't really tell anyone what I was doing honestly I I didn't even tell
my mom and dad really okay so you really kept it yeah I lived like two and a half hours from them
and I was like really busy so I just started doing things but I never sat down and was like
hey like I'm gonna be doing this I was just like buying courses and educating myself and learning and I spent
I already worked probably about six to they say nine till five I'm like who works at nine till
five I worked an eight till six at least and then I add on my commute yes so I would just use my
lunch breaks and all my weekends and doing those aspects and I feel like I didn't have kids at the
time but even if you have kids it's like you just have to work out what you're slotting in.
And like between clients, I would have 30 minutes and I would do something then.
So I never really sat down and told anyone what I was doing.
And then obviously, as it started like gaining traction, people would ask more questions.
But even then, I was really cagey.
And I didn't, it didn't mean to be, but it's just like kind of like you were saying what Sarah said like I couldn't deal with people telling me that I might not succeed because I lacked so much confidence and
I just want people to know I did not have confidence at this point like I didn't I literally was
terrified of social media and I remember in the early years of Boss Babe Natalie's role was like
marketing and content and my role was ops legal
and product so my job was to make sure all the content and the teaching I was I was naturally
a good teacher I'd always taught like dance and stuff like that so the teaching was my job um
the content I would master and the customer services and all these pieces and then it got
to a point where people are asking me more my opinions and then Natalie was like you
should come and do more on the Instagram channel it was the hardest thing for me ever to do and I
think part of that was because I was I scared what people think I was worried that people wouldn't
like me I was worried that people wouldn't think I was good at it and I really had a lot of hang-ups
about that and that stood in my way for the longest time absolutely because
and I remember doing this thing in the society those of the in the OGs will remember this we
basically ran a so we teach a master like we have someone come in and teach a master class
every single month so we've had Jamie Kern Lima teach we've had like the most powerful women in
there like they've run seven eight nine figure they come in. And in the early days, I asked this woman to come in
and do one on social media and going live.
Yeah.
And I basically curated a challenge that was 30 days long
where everyone in it had to show up on stories for 30 days.
Okay, love this.
And it was basically so I could hold myself accountable
to showing up on stories.
I can't believe I wouldn't do it.
I remember seeing something you did on social where you talked about how you dreaded up on stories. I can't believe I wouldn't do it. I remember seeing
something you did on social where you talked about how you dreaded posting on social. And I thought
there's no way that was 2019. It wasn't even that long ago. I cannot believe that anyone listening.
I want you to remember that, that when I see you on social now, I feel like you were made to do
that. Like it was so easy for you. Not only do you look gorgeous and sound intelligent, but it looks like it's easy to know that it
wasn't in the beginning is such a great lesson that we all need to remember when people see
us build our businesses and the things we do.
It might look easy now, but everyone starts with, this is awkward.
I look like an idiot.
What am I doing?
What are people going to think?
We all have that. So I guess I wanted to kind of really punctuate that point to say,
do it even though you have all those feelings, because now, now does it feel easier for you
that you've been doing it for so long? Yeah, 100%. And also I still have moments where I'm
like, is that good content? Like who's going to watch this? Like, am I doing a good job?
You're doing my life.
I know.
You know what?
I want to share this because I get the real behind the scenes, right?
I get to interview the most epic people.
Yes.
And people you would think they're like absolutely amazing.
They're going to have so much confidence.
They have no issues.
You know what everyone says to me after a podcast?
What?
Did I do good?
Did I do okay?
Was that all right?
Are they going to like it?
Okay.
And I'm not,
just go through who I've had on this podcast.
Yes.
Even like,
I'm sure Brendan won't mind me saying,
even after I did my podcast with Brendan,
which hasn't actually been released yet,
he was like,
turned to me and was like,
was that good?
Do you think your audience will like it?
I'm like,
are you kidding?
Are you kidding me?
You're Brendan Burchard.
Yes.
Everything that man says is good.
He's like, was that good? And you kidding me? You're running a bichon. Yes, everything that man says is good. Jay Shetty's like, was that good?
And I mean, it's so interesting to me that people you put on pedestals, they still have,
no one is 100% confident all the time.
No.
And I think that's the biggest realization that everyone gets to have, that everyone
is human.
Everyone has moments where they are just thriving and they feel really good about what they're
doing.
And they also have moments where they're a little bit more unsure and they just want to
do a good job and they want to support people listening. And I just think when you realize that
it makes you overcoming your shit a lot easier because everyone's overcoming something.
It's so true. And a little tip for the overcoming. So you have all these feelings,
you're feeling insecure, things you're not even sure how they're going to come together.
One thing that has worked for me immensely is to just get into action. Action creates clarity.
And so the other day I woke up and I was in a funk and nothing was going right. And I'm feeling like out of sorts. And so I kind of sat with it and I'm like, okay, today's not a great day. And I have
battled depression and anxiety since I was really young.
So I know what that feels like.
But then I thought, okay, so I could just stay in this feeling all day, or I could feel
it and also get it to work.
And so I thought, I'm just going to get to work.
So I started to kind of tackle some little stuff and then some bigger stuff.
And instantly those feelings went away.
I didn't have time to think about them because I was in action.
So when you're starting a business and you have no idea what to do, that's the thing I hear from most people. I want to quit my nine to five job, but I have no idea what to do. That's
why I wrote the book two weeks notice to give you a guide to what to do, but also just do something,
just do something. I remember when I was still at my nine to five job, I didn't know what the heck
I was going to do or how I was going to create a business. But there was this one girl online
that she was building a business. Like I wanted like the business I thought that I wanted. She
doesn't do it anymore. She moved over to software, but at the time she had digital courses. She was
on social, all that stuff. So I DM her and I said, can I pay you for an hour of your time to tell me
about your business? I know this
is not what you typically do, but I want to learn how you have this business. And she said, yes.
So what I did is during my lunch hour, I got, this is so ridiculous, under my desk because I
was afraid people would hear or the walls were really thin. So I got under the desk and I'm
whispering like, can you tell me about your business? I'm sure she thought this was very weird, but she told me everything. This is what I
love about women. They just will give you all the details, the good, bad, and ugly. And she did.
And that was literally one of my first big action steps to start formulating my own business.
So lean on the women who have gone before you, because we are very, women are a great community
that will share all the stuff. They really are. and i feel like we've always said this in boss babe but i
see this so much in our community too collaboration of a competition yes it was funny i'm just redoing
a training for the society which is our community you call it where female entrepreneurs connect
build and grow and in there the testimonials are insane but the biggest
thing that kept jumping out to me was how much they've supported each other and it's like oh my
goodness like thank and they're sharing their wins they're like thanks for supporting me along this
journey and they mean boss babe community but they also mean the women as part of the boss babe
community because when they share wins they're actually getting people congratulating them and sometimes it's really hard to share these wins
with your existing family or friends because they're not on this journey and they don't quite
get it so surrounding yourself and the power of surrounding yourself with people who support
the actions that you're taking is really really powerful yes So I want to ask you a few questions
because you are known for marketing, Amy,
the marketing guru there.
Yes.
So what do you think as we head into 2023 and beyond,
what do you think are going to be really important
marketing methods for businesses?
If you're starting or if you're just growing,
what are things that you think people should really be
investing in and keeping their eyes on?
So there's a tried and true strategy that I can't literally move on without talking
about first, and that is focusing on your email list.
Now, this is not new, right?
It's not new, but it's so important.
I always say that social media is fickle.
If you only grow on Instagram, let's say
you're building your business on rented land. Let's pretend that you built your whole business
on Twitter. Elon Musk comes in, you don't like how he's managing it. And now you want off,
but your whole business is built there. You're screwed. And so, but you own your email list.
You own the people, you own the names and emails on that email list,
meaning you get to, you get to engage with that list. You can cultivate that list and email
converts four times higher than social media. And so my first marketing big tip is start your
email list. The best time to start it was yesterday. So the next best time is today.
It's that kind of thing. I went two years without focusing on
my email list and I did my very first launch. I made a whopping $267 and then cried for a week.
And looking back, I didn't do well because I didn't have an email list. I didn't have an
engaged audience that was looking forward to hearing from me. So if you do just one thing
when you're getting started, start that email list. That's a big one.
I hear that.
And honestly, you know, this podcast is all about the behind the scenes.
I've been like openly talking about that.
I so wish we'd focused on our email list.
Amen.
Me too.
Like we literally did not.
Like we were all social first and then email second.
And we're really pivoting that.
We're very, very excitingly
just launched a newsletter because we really want to be making sure that we're supporting and giving
the most value and just getting people excited to opening their inbox to us. So I really think
that's, you know, so powerful. And I hear some people being like, oh, but email is going to go
away. It's not. Think about everyone who opens their email. What is it being replaced with?
Text messages are not replacing it. No way. because they're short and they're so much more intrusive
so i really agree i think if you're going to start with anything start with like the social
to understand and then very very quickly getting people onto email i think social works in a way
that's like you're using social right right? Start testing your ideas and understandings, but as soon, quickly as possible, getting
in them onto an email address.
Absolutely.
Moving them over.
It's huge.
And so last year, Instagram and Facebook went down for like half a day or something.
You remember that you would remember.
So the day Facebook and Instagram went down, I coincidentally send an
email that morning for one of my products that I've had for years. So while Facebook and Instagram
were down, we made thousands of dollars with just one email to a segment of my list. And that day
was such a great reminder to say like, I can always make money in my business if I have an
email list. That's not necessarily the case of social media goes down. And so what an email list will do for you is it will give you confidence
knowing you will always be able to grow your business. And business gets way easier the
bigger your email list gets, the more engaged it gets. So it's something that you just can't pass
on. But to go back to your question, like what's working in 2023, what are we seeing? Another thing that I think is really working right now is actually people putting a little skin in the game. So you
know how you've got free challenges, free bootcamps, a lot of free. I do a lot of free as well,
but last year I pivoted to paid bootcamps instead of free bootcamps. And when I say paid,
they're like $37 to engage in one of my bootcamps. What we saw was huge engagement just
by putting a little money in. And so I think people are holding onto their money tighter in
2023 as we kind of navigate a possible recession. And I think they, anything they spend, they're
taking it seriously. So they're, they tend to show up more, you pay, you pay attention. So even
having a low entry point to some kind of product,
I think it's even better than doing a lot of stuff free.
We haven't done that. Actually, we do a lot. I see a lot of stuff free, but I was considering
that. So thanks for sharing. And I just want to highlight that even that information that you
just shared is such a gift for so many people listening to that. And that just like kind of
highlights the point that we're sharing of like how generous women can really be with their knowledge because that honestly can make someone
thousands of dollars that they implement straight away like if I turned that on right now I'm like
wow I actually would probably make a lot of money from just doing that one thing and raise conversions
etc and yeah I think that people listening just know that you know whatever position you are in
right now sometimes you might think oh my goodness like no one's actually sharing stuff that really
does work but let me tell you they do they do like yeah really do like we always say like no fluff no
BS on our training don't gatekeep we're just giving you because we're the same we just want
more women to have more wealth. I genuinely believe the world would
be a better place if we had more women with more wealth and in more positions of power.
Absolutely. I have no doubt in my mind. I literally wanted to write the book because
I want more women to step up and say, I'm going to control my destiny. I'm going to figure this
out. I'm going to call the shots because when you have more wealth, you can do amazing things with it. And so when you're in a nine to five, you will always be capped.
You will always hit a glass ceiling at one point or another. But when you're an entrepreneur,
literally the sky is the limit. Like it changes everything. So I believe that.
Why did you decide to write the books? It's your second book, right?
It's my first book.
It's your first. I thought it was your first. And then I thought you read something that said it was your second.
And I was like, wait, did I miss one? Well, you're not totally wrong. Way back in the day,
I contributed to a dummies book, those big yellow books. And it was Facebook marketing for dummies,
but I do not count that. So this is officially my first book. Because it's a labor of love.
Oh my gosh. Hardest thing I've ever done is write this book.
And I think what was most hard about it was telling the stories I didn't want to tell.
So I kind of alluded to that one story where I got a partner about three years into my
business where I had almost hit a million dollars in one year in my business.
And for some reason, I believe that I needed a man to help me.
Like I couldn't continue to do this alone.
And so within like an overnight decision, I took on a 50-50 partner of a business I
had birthed.
And I tell the story in the book about how it was really good and then it wasn't.
And it almost cost me having to dissolve the entire business.
And so I tell stories like that.
I didn't want to tell that
story because it's embarrassing, but I know women are going to need to hear this to help them kind
of sidestep some of the big mistakes you can make as an entrepreneur. So I wrote the book to have a
book. I wish I had this book 14 years ago. I wish someone kind of showed me this is how you get
started from scratch. And also there's a big theme in the book called unbossing. Now,
Gabby Bernstein helped me come up with that term. Like I was telling her why I thought this book
was important. And she's like, oh yeah, we need to have more women unboss themselves. And basically
it's this concept of believing that you can lead yourself without having anyone else lead you.
You don't need a man to lead you. You don't need a partner.
If you don't want one, you can literally do this by yourself. But a lot of women have not led
themselves yet. So it's a process of starting to believe and making the mistakes and getting back
up and starting to prove to yourself, no, I can actually lead myself. I don't need anyone else.
So the book is also kind of, I take you on this journey of, of how I unbossed myself and how
painful it was, but it doesn't need to be that painful. You also just said something which I
would love to kind of just touch on. You were like, Oh, it's hard to tell the story because
it's embarrassing. So embarrassing. Why? Why is it embarrassing? Cause I felt like.
Great point. It was. We all have decisions that don't necessarily work out.
You know, it felt embarrassing to tell the story because I made some decisions that were
so quick.
I didn't even research it or think about it.
I think it came out of a little bit of a desperation.
Like, I want this so bad.
What if it doesn't work?
Maybe bring someone else to help me.
And also at one point, like there was a year that I don't know if I've ever cried so much
in that year because I don't know if I've ever cried so much in that year
because I was so afraid. So that feels embarrassing that here I am in this puddle,
but I think every entrepreneur has been in a puddle on the ground crying because
they're so scared something doesn't work. That's just part of the game.
I'm glad you shared it because I do believe the more we normalize it,
the better because we learn from our own mistakes we also
learn from other people's mistakes and you know there's a million reasons why that may or may not
have worked out yes and I think the thing that I just have also realized on my journey through
personal life through divorce and transition there too is that
things these experiences make us stronger amen and so I look back and I think I'm probably just
pulling this out a little bit because I had to really work a lot on shame and embarrassment
my marriage not working out and I just want to free like so many people from like not every
decision you make is a good decision and that is okay you don't need to be embarrassed about it and we can let go of this because
otherwise we just lock ourselves in to these like you know emotions which only really silence
ourselves or like make us feel bad not anyone else so I'm so pleased that you shared oh yeah
and I love that you kind of just gave me a gift. Like,
I don't need to be embarrassed about these stories and I know they're going to help other women. So
I really should be proud that I overcame this. And now here I am to tell the story.
And that you're able to realize why you made the decision that you did at that time, because
that's how you do learn and grow versus like, oh, you know, I just made this decision. That was it.
I made it because I didn't know I could do it on my own. And I probably didn't have the confidence that
I really wanted at that time. But now, but then to buy your business partner out, that also takes a
huge confidence. So you must have grown so much in that period to then make that decision. Cause
that's like the two extremes. So true. I'll give you the little punchline of that. I take you
through the whole story in the book, but the punchline is I went from 5 million the year that I got out of the
partnership to 16.5 million the next year. And so it was, it wasn't all about the money. It was
really about how I showed up. Like for the first time, I think I authentically showed up as myself
and said, I'm going to do this no matter what. And when you really step into your power,
when you're like, I'm going for it, no matter what the money comes, that your money doesn't
have to lead, the money will come. So it was a huge pivotal point in my career.
Things don't happen for you. They happen to you, right? So like how amazing that you
had the blessing of buying him out and moving forward.
I believe everything happens for me. And that was
a lesson I've learned along the way that nothing is going to come my way that's not supposed to
be meant for me. And so I continue to tell myself what is meant for me will find me.
And that experience really solidified that. I love that. So the book is on sale right now.
Yes. Two weeks notice. Everywhere books are sold, but I always have bonuses. So
twoweeksnoticebook.com. You can get the book and you can get some fun bonuses. So twoweeksnoticebook.com.
I love that. What are the bonuses? We created bonuses for pre-sale and then we're going to
have a surprise bonus for anyone who buys when it's out. So we are still working on that because
at the time of this recording, the book's not out yet. So we will have a bonus for those that the book's not even out yet. Can we also just share
this too, right? So you might be listening to this thinking you have to have every single thing
figured out like weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks before, but also just give yourself
permission to be like, okay, like what are like, I like I mean the books we're recording this at
the beginning of January so the books in about like five weeks six weeks out six weeks out right
and some of those things are still not dialed in that is okay there's so much time still yes and I
just think just sharing that behind the scenes side too because one thing I noticed is have you
ever heard LinkedIn did this whole, you know, research
project on the people that apply for jobs.
And a man will apply for a job when he can only do 30% of what is on the job description.
A woman needs to have 80%.
She needs to know she can do 80% of what's on that job description before she'll apply.
And so I've seen over and over again, women not taking the leap because
they're trying to get to 80% done before they'll even launch the thing, post the thing, do the
thing. And this is a great example of look, actually, when you do find your momentum and
you do start moving forwards, because I was that person when 80% done all the time before I did
anything. Whereas now I'm like six weeks out is so much time.
We didn't even need to have that.
So much time.
And so I just wanted to give that.
Yes.
So we have one more bonus to create for those that buy once the book's out.
It's going to be amazing.
It's going to be amazing.
And we have time, but you're right.
We can't, if we wait till everything is figured out, we will never launch anything.
And so giving permission, I think we need to share more of that.
Like we don't have
it all dialed in every minute of the day and we're still doing well. So it's, we're proof that you
can, you can get by without having the 80%. I love that. Well, Amy, thank you so much for coming on
and being such an inspiration, just being so raw and vulnerable on this podcast. Like that to me
is what really matters. Cause I think that social media is very much a highlight reel.
It's very hard to like get a lot of points across
in those 60 second windows.
And so the podcast for me is just really a place
where women get to like really feel understood
and seen and know that they're not alone on this journey.
Well, I love everything about what you do.
So thank you so much for having me.
This has been such a treat.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me. This has been such a treat. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening.
And if you enjoyed this episode on the Boss Babe podcast,
then I'd absolutely love it if you leave us a review.
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