What does it really take to go from corporate employment to OBM business ownership—and actually own your time, income, and expertise?
In this episode of The OBM Show (also available as a video), I’m joined by Gillian Edwards, an Accredited OBM and marketing strategist who took a leap during the pandemic and never looked back. After being laid off, Gillian joined OBM School (shoutout to OBM Week + winning the Accelerator!) and slowly but surely built a business that works on her terms.
Now, she blends marketing strategy, implementation, and project management into a unique OBM offering—serving clients she loves and choosing work that aligns with her strengths.
🎧 Inside the episode, we cover:
- How Gillian landed her first retainer client by sending a bold email to 400+ people
- Why she skipped the VA phase and trusted her strengths from day one
- What a typical OBM day looks like—complete with tea, to-do lists, and client check-ins
- The types of projects she’s taken on (including Amazon product launches + optician training platforms!)
- Her advice for new OBMs still stuck in indecision
“Starve fear by making quick decisions. You have to go all in.”
Whether you’re pivoting out of corporate or still figuring out how your skills fit in the online space, Gillian’s story will inspire you to take action and lead with what you’re great at.
Thanks for tuning in to The OBM Show — your go-to podcast for Online Business Managers and entrepreneurs who want to scale strategically and sustainably.
If this episode resonated with you, be sure to follow the show and leave a review. It helps more aspiring and established Online Business Managers find this content and grow their businesses with confidence.
✨ Ready to take the next step?
Grab your free OBM Starter Kit → obmschool.com/starter
Explore more tools and trainings → obmschool.com/resources
Learn about becoming a CPD-certified Accredited Online Business Manager → obmaccreditation.com
📺 Prefer to watch?
Subscribe to our Youtube Channel and hit the bell icon to get notified when we drop a new video → youtube.com/@SarahNokedOBM
Until next time—keep building the business behind the business.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah Noked (00:00):
Today, I have the absolute pleasure of catching up
with one of our brilliant OBMschool grads, Gillian Edwards.
Gillian's journey into theonline business management space
began with a major life shakeupbeing laid off during the
pandemic, and she turned it intoa powerful pivot that led her
to build a thriving OBM businessfrom the ground up.
(00:21):
In this conversation, we talkabout how she went from
uncertainty to action, how shebooked her first client through
bold outreach, and how she andwhy she's embraced a flexible
OBM model that blendsproject-based work, retainer
clients, and her deep backgroundin marketing and
implementation.
If you've ever wondered whetheryou need to niche down right
(00:42):
away or how to confidentlylaunch your OBM business without
a giant following, this episodeis packed with practical
insights, permission to dothings your way, and real talk
from someone who's walked thepath.
Let's dive in.
Welcome to the OBM Show, thepodcast that pulls back the
curtain on what it really takesto thrive as an online business
(01:05):
manager and help businessesscale without burning out.
I'm your host, Sarah Noked,agency owner, OBM mentor, and
founder of OBM School.
I've been working in the backend of online businesses since
2009, building systems, managingremote teams, and mentoring
OBMs who make businesses runlike clockwork.
(01:28):
Now, I've seen what works, whatdoesn't, and the messy middle
that no one talks about.
Here, we get real about thetools, strategies, and stories
that drive sustainable success,plus the tech mishaps, growing
pains, and lessons learned alongthe way.
If you're ready to stopspinning your wheels, step into
(01:49):
your leadership role, and seewhat actually happens behind the
scenes of thriving businesses,you're in the right place.
Let's get started.
Hey guys, welcome to anotherday in the life.
We have the lovely GillianEdwards here talking to us all
about what a day in the lifelooks like in your unique OBM
(02:10):
business.
So we're really excited to haveyou here, Gillian.
Thank you.
I'm excited to be here.
So Gillian is, I've had thepleasure of working with you
inside of the OBM school fromaccelerator onto certification
and all the fun things inbetween.
Tell us a little bit about howyou got started in this amazing
space that we all work in.
Sarah,
Gillian Edwards (02:30):
I'm not even sure how I discovered you.
It was very likely Facebook.
I saw something and thenstarted following you and I did
an OBM week and it was 2019.
Yeah, late 2019.
And I actually won theaccelerator from doing my
homework.
So I was in the draw and I wonand I did the accelerator.
(02:50):
And at the time I had been laidoff, my company closed due to
COVID.
So it was kind of like, do Iwant to get a job job again?
Or, you know, do I want to, youknow, forge my own path?
So.
Sarah Noked (03:06):
Pursue the entrepreneurial spirit that I
saw in you right off the bat.
Like that was alive and well.
Like I'm putting, I'm justcaveat here.
Like you had theentrepreneurial spirit inside.
Gillian Edwards (03:16):
That was, that was one thing that sort of held
me back is that I always, itscared me.
Like it was sales scared me.
Just like a bunch of thingslike held me back from sort of
going for it.
And then after I, you know, didthe accelerator and I was like,
really like this and this isinteresting and I you know I
think I could do this and thenfinish the accelerator modules
(03:38):
and I was still sort of debatingwhat to do and whether to start
my own business.
A project and a job came up andI thought well this is this is
great it was gonna you know paythe bills while I was still
figuring out if you know thiswas what I wanted to do.
The work itself wasn't exactlyOBM work necessarily it was more
it was accounting wasinteresting and I did it and I
(04:00):
was like you know what I likebeing the master of my own time,
not really answering, being themaster of my own time, not
really answering to anybody.
And, you know, before I wasonly going into the office once
a week with my previous job, wewere quite remote and that was
great.
Even, you know, that once aweek suddenly became a bit
tedious, right?
I was like, I don't want to go.
(04:21):
Unless we're going out forlunch.
I don't want to
Sarah Noked (04:24):
go.
You need to get dressed,really?
Oh, at least I'll get a goodcoffee on my way to work.
Yeah.
Gillian Edwards (04:28):
Yeah.
Looking
Sarah Noked (04:29):
for the good in everything, right?
Gillian Edwards (04:30):
Yeah, exactly.
And then I just decided, youknow, I also joined like some
mindset coaching and then I wasjust like, right, let's do this.
And I, you know, bought my URL,set up my email and my main
retainer client at the momentreached out to me around the
same time, you know, asked me totake over the marketing for
their company and And I waslike, I manifested that.
(04:51):
I decided I was going for itand it came.
And then the opportunity
Sarah Noked (04:54):
started to knock in.
Gillian Edwards (04:56):
Exactly.
Sarah Noked (04:57):
So you landed that first few clients and then you
started to really get somebigger retainer clients.
Where do you find most of yourclients?
Gillian Edwards (05:04):
I've been working in the industry for over
21 years.
So everything has been from mynetwork, my personal network,
and also the coaching course andthe mindset coaching course I
told you about.
And also I joined a mastermindof women from that group And we
meet once a month.
And I did work for one of thoseladies as well.
Sarah Noked (05:23):
Such a big part of this is relationship.
Gillian Edwards (05:25):
Oh, totally.
Totally.
And that was...
That was actually how Iannounced myself as I pulled all
my emails from, you know, mypersonal and my business and
then, you know, de-duped andsent out a mail merge to, you
know, about 400 people.
Sarah Noked (05:40):
That's quite ballsy.
And I think that, you know, oneof the things that I often tell
students inside of OBM schools,like when you're ready to put
it out there, you best beputting it out there.
Like, don't just like, youknow, squirmishly like, oh, I'm
an OBM.
Like, no, you need to sometimesstand on the rooftops and
scream it out to everybody.
So I love that you took controlof your existing relationships,
your existing network, and wereable to really make it work for
(06:03):
you.
So would you say that yourclients typically fall into like
a specific niche or likethere's like a particular thing
that brings them all together?
Gillian Edwards (06:11):
Not yet, because I'm still relatively new
to it.
I'm remaining open.
to things to see what I likebest.
Like I really enjoy themarketing side of things because
that's my background.
Even in that role with thatretainer client I was
mentioning, I've done, you know,it was marketing, which I'm
still doing.
We've been launching a product,but I also built a training
(06:34):
platform.
I also created some salesreport pivot tables because they
don't have the right techresources to these sorts of
things without doing that.
Sarah Noked (06:43):
What does a typical day look like for you, Gillian?
Like from the time you wake upin the morning to when you
encounter your, you know, yourfirst meeting, what does it look
like?
Give us like a day in the life.
Gillian Edwards (06:54):
I get my tea, I'm not a coffee person, get my
tea, sit down, get myselfsituated, check my calendar, see
what's going on for the day,and then set myself up with, you
know, my to-do list for theday.
I really should do it the nightbefore, but I don't.
Then I get started on emailsand it all depends You know,
with my retainer client, I'vegot regular things going on.
Sarah Noked (07:13):
So with the retainer client, what kinds of
stuff are you doing with them?
Gillian Edwards (07:16):
That was the one I mentioned before where I'm
doing, I'm launching a productfor them.
We launched in the States.
I'm working with a distributorin the States and they've got
their own internal marketing.
And then also we've launched iton Amazon and I managed a
campaign with a like anindependent media outlet down
there as well.
And
Sarah Noked (07:33):
we're
Gillian Edwards (07:34):
moving
Sarah Noked (07:34):
to Canada shortly.
So it sounds a lot like you'remanaging different vendors,
creating projects, making surethat things are being delivered
on time, making sure that all ofthe kinds of pieces are
communicating with one another.
Exactly.
Implementation that goes intothat as well.
Gillian Edwards (07:51):
Yeah.
And also strategy too, becauseI'm involved in the marketing
strategy because I took thatover my client because she was
just like, I don't have thebandwidth for this anymore.
So with the implementation I'mdealing with the graphic
designer to, you know, createall the marketing assets for the
different media platforms, alsogetting the website created,
also imagery for
Sarah Noked (08:12):
Amazon.
I guess reporting, like themetrics.
How are we doing?
Yeah, the metrics and actually,again, the marketing.
That's a big one.
Gillian Edwards (08:19):
Metrics as well.
And we have monthly meetingswith the whole team associated
with the brand.
I changed how those meetingswent because there wasn't really
an agenda beforehand.
There was no follow up oraction item.
Sarah Noked (08:32):
The bulk is your retainer client.
And then do you have projectbased things that you're doing
on the side or do you havemultiple retainer clients?
Gillian Edwards (08:38):
I only have one retainer client at the moment.
I actually was hooked uprecently through somebody in my
coaching group to do projectmanagement by contract through a
company in the States.
So I thought that was aninteresting opportunity and let
them know I wasn't looking for afull time contract.
That should be coming down thepipe shortly.
But everything else has beenproject based.
Sarah Noked (08:57):
So tell me a little bit about some of this project
work you're doing with clients?
Gillian Edwards (09:00):
Okay, so I did some marketing automations for a
course for one of the ladies inmy mastermind group.
And that was lots of fun.
And to be honest, I didn't haveany experience with that
before.
But I did the research.
And I ended up recommendingthings that she wasn't even
aware of in the platform whereher course was where she built
(09:21):
her course.
That was lots of fun.
Actually, her course is reallycool.
It's brought to styling opticalwear for opticians.
So that was interesting.
Well, they're
Sarah Noked (09:28):
interesting.
I mean, that's I think that'sone of the important things to
highlight as OBMs is typicallythe clients that we're working
with are doing interestingthings and unique things.
And that's what keeps it reallyfun for us because
Gillian Edwards (09:39):
otherwise it gets boring.
Yeah.
And that's why I haven't nichedyet or I don't have a specific
type of client because I'm like,I'm enjoying the variety.
Sarah Noked (09:49):
Yeah.
Gillian Edwards (09:49):
Yeah.
Like I've done a few strategysessions with 90 day plans.
Right.
And I've enjoyed those as well.
It's been fun.
And I'm still, you know, stillfiguring out what I like better.
Yeah,
Sarah Noked (10:00):
and that's it.
And you know, the truth is, is,you know, you're like, what, a
year or two into the game now asan OBM?
Not
Gillian Edwards (10:08):
even, I think.
Technically, I launched last
Sarah Noked (10:10):
September.
Oh, wow.
But we were doing a lot of worktogether even before
Gillian Edwards (10:14):
that.
Yeah, I was in the coursebeforehand.
Right, yeah,
Sarah Noked (10:16):
it'll be about a year.
Yeah, and I think that'samazing because I always say,
and you know, I'll post here thevideo for my thoughts on
niching, but niching can begreat, but also it's fun to have
that open end.
You know, I like to be workingwith different types of
industries and people and stufflike that.
So yeah, it's great to see thatyou're working with retainer
and project-based because I'veworked with OBMs that are like,
(10:38):
I'm not doing retainer, I'mdoing only project-based.
And I've seen OBMs that arelike, you know, I'm happy with
my three or four retainerclients.
I don't want to do any projectsor maybe I'll mix them in here
and there.
I was recently speaking,actually, just before we hopped
on this interview, I wasspeaking to another OBM who had
been in our program.
And we were just talking abouthow, you know, when people
approach her, and it was Ramonawho has a also done a day in the
(11:00):
life with us.
And she was telling me, youknow, when people approach me,
they always ask, you know, can Ido this?
Because I was like, what arethe questions that you get asked
most when people arepotentially wanting to become an
OBM?
And she said to me, like,people just ask me, you know,
can I do this?
If somebody were to approachyou thinking about becoming an
OBM, what would some advice bethat you would give them about
(11:22):
how they could get started orwhy they should get started?
Gillian Edwards (11:25):
Well, how they get started, I think, well,
obviously, check out yourcourses.
But I think like my main adviceis sort of like lean on your
strengths.
And that's where like I'm doingsome stuff that is maybe not,
you know, typically in the OBMdefinition in terms of offering
marketing strategy and thingslike that.
But that's one of my strengths.
(11:45):
So I'm doing that along withsome other traditional OBM type
roles.
Sarah Noked (11:50):
What advice would you give to someone who's
thinking about becoming an OBM,but maybe is stuck in a decision
making conundrum?
Gillian Edwards (11:56):
I like this is from my mindset coaching is, you
know, starve fear by makingquick decisions.
And I didn't do that initially.
It took me a long time.
And then I was finally like,I'm doing it.
And you won't regret it.
Ultimately, you won't regretit, but you have to go all in.
Sarah Noked (12:13):
You have to go all in.
Gillian Edwards (12:14):
If you do it and you waffle and you don't put
yourself out there, you won'tget the clients and you'll be
like, this was a big mistake.
So
Sarah Noked (12:20):
go all the way, make the decision and just, you
know, go all in to it.
And commit.
Yeah, that's great, Gillian.
Well, it's been really awesomehearing about your day in the
life of an OBM.
We have people who are becomingOBMs, but also a lot of people
who watch this video looking forOBMs.
So Gillian, can you let us knowif someone wants to reach out
to you, where can they find you?
(12:41):
Oh,
Gillian Edwards (12:41):
fabulous.
Yes, I can be found atgillianedwards.ca.
Sarah Noked (12:46):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much forthis interview.
Gillian Edwards (12:49):
Thank you, Sarah.
Thanks for tuning in and I'llsee you next time on the OBM
(13:45):
Show.
Today, I have the absolute pleasure of catching up
with one of our brilliant OBMschool grads, Gillian Edwards.
Gillian's journey into theonline business management space
began with a major life shakeupbeing laid off during the
pandemic, and she turned it intoa powerful pivot that led her
to build a thriving OBM businessfrom the ground up.
(00:21):
In this conversation, we talkabout how she went from
uncertainty to action, how shebooked her first client through
bold outreach, and how she andwhy she's embraced a flexible
OBM model that blendsproject-based work, retainer
clients, and her deep backgroundin marketing and
implementation.
If you've ever wondered whetheryou need to niche down right
(00:42):
away or how to confidentlylaunch your OBM business without
a giant following, this episodeis packed with practical
insights, permission to dothings your way, and real talk
from someone who's walked thepath.
Let's dive in.
Welcome to the OBM Show, thepodcast that pulls back the
curtain on what it really takesto thrive as an online business
(01:05):
manager and help businessesscale without burning out.
I'm your host, Sarah Noked,agency owner, OBM mentor, and
founder of OBM School.
I've been working in the backend of online businesses since
2009, building systems, managingremote teams, and mentoring
OBMs who make businesses runlike clockwork.
(01:28):
Now, I've seen what works, whatdoesn't, and the messy middle
that no one talks about.
Here, we get real about thetools, strategies, and stories
that drive sustainable success,plus the tech mishaps, growing
pains, and lessons learned alongthe way.
If you're ready to stopspinning your wheels, step into
(01:49):
your leadership role, and seewhat actually happens behind the
scenes of thriving businesses,you're in the right place.
Let's get started.
Hey guys, welcome to anotherday in the life.
We have the lovely GillianEdwards here talking to us all
about what a day in the lifelooks like in your unique OBM
(02:10):
business.
So we're really excited to haveyou here, Gillian.
Thank you.
I'm excited to be here.
So Gillian is, I've had thepleasure of working with you
inside of the OBM school fromaccelerator onto certification
and all the fun things inbetween.
Tell us a little bit about howyou got started in this amazing
space that we all work in.
Sarah,
Gillian Edwards (02:30):
I'm not even sure how I discovered you.
It was very likely Facebook.
I saw something and thenstarted following you and I did
an OBM week and it was 2019.
Yeah, late 2019.
And I actually won theaccelerator from doing my
homework.
So I was in the draw and I wonand I did the accelerator.
(02:50):
And at the time I had been laidoff, my company closed due to
COVID.
So it was kind of like, do Iwant to get a job job again?
Or, you know, do I want to, youknow, forge my own path?
So.
Sarah Noked (03:06):
Pursue the entrepreneurial spirit that I
saw in you right off the bat.
Like that was alive and well.
Like I'm putting, I'm justcaveat here.
Like you had theentrepreneurial spirit inside.
Gillian Edwards (03:16):
That was, that was one thing that sort of held
me back is that I always, itscared me.
Like it was sales scared me.
Just like a bunch of thingslike held me back from sort of
going for it.
And then after I, you know, didthe accelerator and I was like,
really like this and this isinteresting and I you know I
think I could do this and thenfinish the accelerator modules
(03:38):
and I was still sort of debatingwhat to do and whether to start
my own business.
A project and a job came up andI thought well this is this is
great it was gonna you know paythe bills while I was still
figuring out if you know thiswas what I wanted to do.
The work itself wasn't exactlyOBM work necessarily it was more
it was accounting wasinteresting and I did it and I
(04:00):
was like you know what I likebeing the master of my own time,
not really answering, being themaster of my own time, not
really answering to anybody.
And, you know, before I wasonly going into the office once
a week with my previous job, wewere quite remote and that was
great.
Even, you know, that once aweek suddenly became a bit
tedious, right?
I was like, I don't want to go.
(04:21):
Unless we're going out forlunch.
I don't want to
Sarah Noked (04:24):
go.
You need to get dressed,really?
Oh, at least I'll get a goodcoffee on my way to work.
Yeah.
Gillian Edwards (04:28):
Yeah.
Looking
Sarah Noked (04:29):
for the good in everything, right?
Gillian Edwards (04:30):
Yeah, exactly.
And then I just decided, youknow, I also joined like some
mindset coaching and then I wasjust like, right, let's do this.
And I, you know, bought my URL,set up my email and my main
retainer client at the momentreached out to me around the
same time, you know, asked me totake over the marketing for
their company and And I waslike, I manifested that.
(04:51):
I decided I was going for itand it came.
And then the opportunity
Sarah Noked (04:54):
started to knock in.
Gillian Edwards (04:56):
Exactly.
Sarah Noked (04:57):
So you landed that first few clients and then you
started to really get somebigger retainer clients.
Where do you find most of yourclients?
Gillian Edwards (05:04):
I've been working in the industry for over
21 years.
So everything has been from mynetwork, my personal network,
and also the coaching course andthe mindset coaching course I
told you about.
And also I joined a mastermindof women from that group And we
meet once a month.
And I did work for one of thoseladies as well.
Sarah Noked (05:23):
Such a big part of this is relationship.
Gillian Edwards (05:25):
Oh, totally.
Totally.
And that was...
That was actually how Iannounced myself as I pulled all
my emails from, you know, mypersonal and my business and
then, you know, de-duped andsent out a mail merge to, you
know, about 400 people.
Sarah Noked (05:40):
That's quite ballsy.
And I think that, you know, oneof the things that I often tell
students inside of OBM schools,like when you're ready to put
it out there, you best beputting it out there.
Like, don't just like, youknow, squirmishly like, oh, I'm
an OBM.
Like, no, you need to sometimesstand on the rooftops and
scream it out to everybody.
So I love that you took controlof your existing relationships,
your existing network, and wereable to really make it work for
(06:03):
you.
So would you say that yourclients typically fall into like
a specific niche or likethere's like a particular thing
that brings them all together?
Gillian Edwards (06:11):
Not yet, because I'm still relatively new
to it.
I'm remaining open.
to things to see what I likebest.
Like I really enjoy themarketing side of things because
that's my background.
Even in that role with thatretainer client I was
mentioning, I've done, you know,it was marketing, which I'm
still doing.
We've been launching a product,but I also built a training
(06:34):
platform.
I also created some salesreport pivot tables because they
don't have the right techresources to these sorts of
things without doing that.
Sarah Noked (06:43):
What does a typical day look like for you, Gillian?
Like from the time you wake upin the morning to when you
encounter your, you know, yourfirst meeting, what does it look
like?
Give us like a day in the life.
Gillian Edwards (06:54):
I get my tea, I'm not a coffee person, get my
tea, sit down, get myselfsituated, check my calendar, see
what's going on for the day,and then set myself up with, you
know, my to-do list for theday.
I really should do it the nightbefore, but I don't.
Then I get started on emailsand it all depends You know,
with my retainer client, I'vegot regular things going on.
Sarah Noked (07:13):
So with the retainer client, what kinds of
stuff are you doing with them?
Gillian Edwards (07:16):
That was the one I mentioned before where I'm
doing, I'm launching a productfor them.
We launched in the States.
I'm working with a distributorin the States and they've got
their own internal marketing.
And then also we've launched iton Amazon and I managed a
campaign with a like anindependent media outlet down
there as well.
And
Sarah Noked (07:33):
we're
Gillian Edwards (07:34):
moving
Sarah Noked (07:34):
to Canada shortly.
So it sounds a lot like you'remanaging different vendors,
creating projects, making surethat things are being delivered
on time, making sure that all ofthe kinds of pieces are
communicating with one another.
Exactly.
Implementation that goes intothat as well.
Gillian Edwards (07:51):
Yeah.
And also strategy too, becauseI'm involved in the marketing
strategy because I took thatover my client because she was
just like, I don't have thebandwidth for this anymore.
So with the implementation I'mdealing with the graphic
designer to, you know, createall the marketing assets for the
different media platforms, alsogetting the website created,
also imagery for
Sarah Noked (08:12):
Amazon.
I guess reporting, like themetrics.
How are we doing?
Yeah, the metrics and actually,again, the marketing.
That's a big one.
Gillian Edwards (08:19):
Metrics as well.
And we have monthly meetingswith the whole team associated
with the brand.
I changed how those meetingswent because there wasn't really
an agenda beforehand.
There was no follow up oraction item.
Sarah Noked (08:32):
The bulk is your retainer client.
And then do you have projectbased things that you're doing
on the side or do you havemultiple retainer clients?
Gillian Edwards (08:38):
I only have one retainer client at the moment.
I actually was hooked uprecently through somebody in my
coaching group to do projectmanagement by contract through a
company in the States.
So I thought that was aninteresting opportunity and let
them know I wasn't looking for afull time contract.
That should be coming down thepipe shortly.
But everything else has beenproject based.
Sarah Noked (08:57):
So tell me a little bit about some of this project
work you're doing with clients?
Gillian Edwards (09:00):
Okay, so I did some marketing automations for a
course for one of the ladies inmy mastermind group.
And that was lots of fun.
And to be honest, I didn't haveany experience with that
before.
But I did the research.
And I ended up recommendingthings that she wasn't even
aware of in the platform whereher course was where she built
(09:21):
her course.
That was lots of fun.
Actually, her course is reallycool.
It's brought to styling opticalwear for opticians.
So that was interesting.
Well, they're
Sarah Noked (09:28):
interesting.
I mean, that's I think that'sone of the important things to
highlight as OBMs is typicallythe clients that we're working
with are doing interestingthings and unique things.
And that's what keeps it reallyfun for us because
Gillian Edwards (09:39):
otherwise it gets boring.
Yeah.
And that's why I haven't nichedyet or I don't have a specific
type of client because I'm like,I'm enjoying the variety.
Sarah Noked (09:49):
Yeah.
Gillian Edwards (09:49):
Yeah.
Like I've done a few strategysessions with 90 day plans.
Right.
And I've enjoyed those as well.
It's been fun.
And I'm still, you know, stillfiguring out what I like better.
Yeah,
Sarah Noked (10:00):
and that's it.
And you know, the truth is, is,you know, you're like, what, a
year or two into the game now asan OBM?
Not
Gillian Edwards (10:08):
even, I think.
Technically, I launched last
Sarah Noked (10:10):
September.
Oh, wow.
But we were doing a lot of worktogether even before
Gillian Edwards (10:14):
that.
Yeah, I was in the coursebeforehand.
Right, yeah,
Sarah Noked (10:16):
it'll be about a year.
Yeah, and I think that'samazing because I always say,
and you know, I'll post here thevideo for my thoughts on
niching, but niching can begreat, but also it's fun to have
that open end.
You know, I like to be workingwith different types of
industries and people and stufflike that.
So yeah, it's great to see thatyou're working with retainer
and project-based because I'veworked with OBMs that are like,
(10:38):
I'm not doing retainer, I'mdoing only project-based.
And I've seen OBMs that arelike, you know, I'm happy with
my three or four retainerclients.
I don't want to do any projectsor maybe I'll mix them in here
and there.
I was recently speaking,actually, just before we hopped
on this interview, I wasspeaking to another OBM who had
been in our program.
And we were just talking abouthow, you know, when people
approach her, and it was Ramonawho has a also done a day in the
(11:00):
life with us.
And she was telling me, youknow, when people approach me,
they always ask, you know, can Ido this?
Because I was like, what arethe questions that you get asked
most when people arepotentially wanting to become an
OBM?
And she said to me, like,people just ask me, you know,
can I do this?
If somebody were to approachyou thinking about becoming an
OBM, what would some advice bethat you would give them about
(11:22):
how they could get started orwhy they should get started?
Gillian Edwards (11:25):
Well, how they get started, I think, well,
obviously, check out yourcourses.
But I think like my main adviceis sort of like lean on your
strengths.
And that's where like I'm doingsome stuff that is maybe not,
you know, typically in the OBMdefinition in terms of offering
marketing strategy and thingslike that.
But that's one of my strengths.
(11:45):
So I'm doing that along withsome other traditional OBM type
roles.
Sarah Noked (11:50):
What advice would you give to someone who's
thinking about becoming an OBM,but maybe is stuck in a decision
making conundrum?
Gillian Edwards (11:56):
I like this is from my mindset coaching is, you
know, starve fear by makingquick decisions.
And I didn't do that initially.
It took me a long time.
And then I was finally like,I'm doing it.
And you won't regret it.
Ultimately, you won't regretit, but you have to go all in.
Sarah Noked (12:13):
You have to go all in.
Gillian Edwards (12:14):
If you do it and you waffle and you don't put
yourself out there, you won'tget the clients and you'll be
like, this was a big mistake.
So
Sarah Noked (12:20):
go all the way, make the decision and just, you
know, go all in to it.
And commit.
Yeah, that's great, Gillian.
Well, it's been really awesomehearing about your day in the
life of an OBM.
We have people who are becomingOBMs, but also a lot of people
who watch this video looking forOBMs.
So Gillian, can you let us knowif someone wants to reach out
to you, where can they find you?
(12:41):
Oh,
Gillian Edwards (12:41):
fabulous.
Yes, I can be found atgillianedwards.ca.
Sarah Noked (12:46):
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much forthis interview.
Gillian Edwards (12:49):
Thank you, Sarah.
Thanks for tuning in and I'llsee you next time on the OBM
(13:45):
Show.
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