Writing Your Own Rules in Online Business with Deanna Seymour

The celebrity coaches and online marketing gurus have made multi-million dollars selling their courses and coaching programs, and they have pages and pages of testimonials gushing over them, so it had to be “The Way” only it wasn’t.  Several courses later, this teacher, whom we will call Deanna (because that’s actually her name) is not only not getting anywhere closer to the promised land of the laptop lifestyle, but she is starting to feel just as disillusioned with this whole online entrepreneur thing as she was as a teacher.  

So, is poor Deanna doing something wrong or did she simply get caught up in the “results not typical” marketing hype that has made celebrity coaches fabulously wealthy while leaving most of their students blaming themselves for not being one of the success stories they bring on stage at their high ticket sales events?

Therapist vs Coach: What's the Difference?

One of the subjects I am asked for my opinion on most often is the confusion between therapy and coaching.  I guess you could say I am uniquely qualified to address this topic because before I trained and certified as a coach, I was a licensed psychotherapist for over twenty years.  It has become a complicated, contradictory and at times controversial subject and one that a growing number of people are talking about. 

After being asked this question in a number of interviews on other podcasts, I decided it was time to discuss it on The Driven Woman. In this episode, I hope to raise awareness, stimulate some thinking, and most of all, encourage people to trust their intuition and do their homework.  

Eliminate Clutter to Make Room for What Matters with Kathi Burns

Once I learned that Kathi had been a travel writer who literally lived out of a suitcase and that she has also lived on a boat, I knew she was a bona fide expert in doing more with less.  This conversation was both informative and fun, because I know quite a bit about productivity, but learned so much from Kathi about the benefits of tackling our problems with paper.  

Addressing our paper piles is an easy way to create more order in our environment and eliminating them frees up both space and energy, reduces distractions, and increases clarity. We all have better things to do than spend an average of 3 hours a week searching for things, which is one of the eye-opening facts Kathi shared in this lively conversation. 

How to Deal with Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt (FUD)

Everyone has heard of FOMO, but have you also heard of FUD?  Diann hadn’t either, until a recent conversation with her son Andre on the topic of bitcoin.  FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt and taking a guess that these emotions are something you are more than familiar with, especially during these last couple of years.  Once Diann heard the term and learned its history, she actually scrapped the podcast she was planning to create for this week and recorded this one instead.  Hope you agree that it is both timely and relevant. 

Breaking the Box for Married Female Entrepreneurs with Naketa Thigpen

My guest today, Naketa Thigpen, and I have so much in common that this interview is actually our third or fourth conversation since we were introduced. We both have a background as licensed clinical social workers, we both have a childhood trauma history and we share very similar views about women and ambition, the patriarchy, and being a bit too out of the box to ever fit in.   

The number of female entrepreneurs continues to rise, but there really aren’t too many people talking about women and ambition, giving ourselves permission to want, do and have more or the impact of entrepreneurship on marriage.  

The Boundaries Series: Boundaries as Self Care

This is the fourth and last episode in The Boundaries Series, and this one is called “Boundaries as Self Care”  Many solopreneurs were superstars in their former jobs and many of us came to self-employment with ingrained habits of overworking including taking work home, skipping vacations, and even going to work when we were sick, instead of taking our company PTO. 

Women are not conditioned to put their needs first, so when we become solopreneurs, we often end up over extended, overworking, and overwhelmed between the needs of our families and the needs of our business. In this episode, we are going to talk about boundaries as self-care.

Lessons in Entrepreneurship from "Inventing Anna"

The tagline for “Inventing Anna” is: “Inspired by the true story of a total fake.”  Of course, I was instantly hooked, along with millions of other Netflix subscribers. After binge-watching the Netflix series, I read articles, watched interviews and documentaries, and scrolled through all the IG accounts that may or may not be hers.  But this episode is not about my psychological assessment of Anna’s character, motives, or personality pathology.  It is about my thoughts on the skills and mindset that almost made her a very successful founder and entrepreneur, someone I think we can learn from, regardless of what we think of her motivation or methods.   

The Boundaries Series: How to Create a Distraction-Free Business

This is the third in The Boundaries Series of solo episodes, and this one is called How to Create a Distraction-Free Business.  Spoiler alert: it comes down to self-awareness, self-acceptance, and having decent boundaries.   Most female solopreneurs are working from home, with one or more other beings in their space.  Knowing how to manage our distractions and how we use distractions to avoid other uncomfortable feelings like resentment and self-doubt are half the battle to being productive from home.   

The Client Journey in 6 Steps with Abby Herman

Today’s guest, Abby Herman was an elementary school teacher who took her talent for writing and teaching and launched a business as a content strategist over a decade ago.  She helps online entrepreneurs to create awareness, educate and inform, demonstrate their expertise, convert consumers to customers, and long-lasting relationships.

She has a way of thinking about content creation that takes the guessing and stressing right out, making it more simple and sustainable than you ever dreamed of. 

Boundaries Series: Obligation Management

This episode is the second in The Boundaries Series, where we are unpacking the challenge of doing things we don’t really want to be doing, and for all the wrong reasons. Warning: If you have not already heard that I have fully embraced the feedback that one of my favorite clients by calling me “The Speaker of Uncomfortable Truths.”

In my work with female solopreneurs, I often hear about situations my clients are involved in but wish they weren’t.  Sometimes, the situation involves a team member or a client, but it can also be with someone they collaborate with.  The underlying issue is related to boundaries and specifically how we deal with feeling obligated, based on the principle of reciprocity.  

The NFA (No-F*cking-Around) Money Mindset with Dr. Amanda Barrientez

Today’s guest, Amanda Barrientez, also known as Dr. Amanda, The Money Healer has the kind of story I love the most.  Because I was a social worker and psychotherapist who worked with kids from disadvantaged backgrounds in a former life, Amanda’s early life experiences sounded all too familiar.  Fast forward to marriage, kids, grad school, divorce, and Amanda found herself on the professor track but paid so poorly that she and the kids qualified for food stamps.  This was her NFA turning point. This is not your typical rags to riches story where it's all sunshine and rainbows, touting entrepreneurship as easy and fun.  One of the many things we agreed on is that getting what you want is hard.  And it’s also worth it. 

The Boundaries Series: Creating Consistent Client Outcomes

Today’s solo episode tackles the problem of saying “yes” to clients you probably should say “no” to and why, and how to both create predictable outcomes and avoid both negative ones and surprises.   Creating a specific way of working with people and sticking to it, instead of trying to help everyone you think you should, or believe you can spare you countless heartaches. 

The truth is that you really can’t help everybody.  None of us can.  Your personal values may include being flexible, adaptable, and accommodating, but this can get you into some real hot water in your business. This is not a matter of experience or expertise, or how long you’ve been in the business, it’s about the slippery slope of unmet expectations and human nature.

PR & Pitching for Experts with Michelle Glogovac

Today’s guest, Michelle Glogovac, CEO of MLG Collective, a boutique PR & Podcast Pitching Agency that helps authors, entrepreneurs, and experts share their stories. She decided that an online business would suit her life as a wife and mom a whole lot better than her corporate path of working in the aviation industry and give the creative freedom she craved.

Michelle and I became pals during a business retreat and decided that interviewing one another for our podcasts was a not-to-be-missed opportunity.  Her superpower is seeing the story inside of experts that it is hard for them to recognize and share. This girl understands that she is in the relationship business, not the PR business or jet fuel business

Client Success Story: Meet Dallas

When you are a highly educated professional woman who knows she is capable of so much more than you are demonstrating in your career and personal life, it can be tough to figure out where the real problem lies. Is it your motivation, your expectations, your habits, your mindset, or a combination of all of the above, and how do you figure it out? Luckily for my client, Dallas, one of her friends had worked with me and told her what a great experience she had, and then she listened to a few episodes of this podcast and thought, “this might be just what I need.” 

Becoming Unstoppable with Amira Alvarez

In this fascinating interview, I talk with my guest Amira Alvarez, founder and CEO of The Unstoppable Woman, speaker, podcaster, and leadership coach about some of the topics so many women steer clear of.  But we don’t shy away from the tough stuff here on The Driven Woman Podcast, so Amira and I do a deep dive into the shadow side of being driven and ambitious. The shadow side is what ruins our health, our relationships, and often, the business we are trying so damn hard to grow and scale.

Make Success a No Brainer

The more experienced I become as a business coach, the more convinced I am that the secret to success is understanding how the human brain works and how to outsmart it.  Our brains do not care if we are happy, fulfilled, or reaching our potential. They are giving themselves an A+ if we are still alive because that is actually our brain’s job description. Being successful requires that you use your mind to bypass the brain’s default programming and in this episode, I am going to share with you a couple of hacks for how to do it. 

F*ck Fearless & Choose Bravery with Heather Vickery

In this guest episode, Heather is a leadership and success coach, speaker, workshop facilitator, podcaster, and author.  I found a card promoting Heather’s podcast, The Brave Files.  I picked it up and saved it because I liked the message and branding.  Eventually, I met the fabulous Annie P. Ruggles, who was our guest on episode # 86, and she introduced us.  The world of female podcasters is a fabulous network of generous and supportive people. 

Value vs Worth

In our ongoing series on the mindset changes we need to make in business in order to make the income, impact, and profit we really want to make,  in this solo episode, I address one of the more common problems I see with female solopreneurs: confusion about worth and value in their business. 

When we focus on value instead of worth, we make more money, get better clients, and create more outstanding outcomes.   Who doesn’t want that? 

Lean Out to Level Up with Crista Grasso

I am excited to introduce you to today’s guest on The Driven Woman Podcast;  Business Strategist for online entrepreneurs, Crista Grasso.  Crista and I met at the She Podcasts Live conference and I totally fell in love with her brilliance.  Her genius is helping other entrepreneurs remove the unnecessary complexity in their business so they become more profitable as they grow.

Crista’s system, The Lean Out Method is designed to create simple, sustainable, strategic systems that scale.  She is known as The Business Optimizer and her superpower is helping entrepreneurs cut through the noise and see their business with clarity, so they can maximize both value and profitability.

Saying No Like You Mean It

Boundaries and knowing when to say “no” go together like PB & J. In this episode, I will be talking about not the mechanics of saying no (although I do give you a simple strategy for what to do when you’re put on the spot, near the end…) but more of the strategy behind the no.  

If you are a solopreneur, creative freelancer, or indie professional, you are probably faced with a million requests a day.  Knowing when to say “no” and why is crucial to having a profitable business and avoiding burnout.   The focus of today’s solo episode is on service-based businesses, but the principles apply to most businesses, and to our personal lives as well.  

Non-Sleazy Selling with Annie P Ruggles

I am excited to introduce you to today’s guest on The Driven Woman; fellow podcaster, non-sleazy sales consultant, and all-around genius-for-brains, my biz buddy, Annie P Ruggles.  We met online, hit it off automagically because of our mutual interest in the intersection of feminism, mental health, and entrepreneurship.  Annie is a magician in helping female entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, and service business owners be more successful on their own terms by teaching them how to sell with integrity.  

If you have ever struggled to ask for the business, ask for the money, or raise your prices, you are definitely going to want to listen to this one.